Food packaging

Food packaging is a very challenging field. Manufacturers and suppliers of food packaging are moving in a challenging environment, where the protection of the health of the population is of paramount importance, which is directly related to the testing of the safety of materials and products intended to come into contact with food. OBAL CENTRUM sro supplies packaging that meets the strictest criteria of applicable EU food contact legislation, including in terms of migration and heavy metal content.

Declaration of conformity for plastic materials for food
At all stages of trade (except retailing), a written declaration must be in place for plastic materials and articles, their intermediate products and substances intended for the manufacture of such materials and articles, which comply with Article 16 of Regulation EC 1935/2004. This statement is issued by the company operator.

Design of food contact products
Products intended to come into contact with food must be designed to allow proper cleaning, sterilization with regard to their use. It must have functional and mechanical properties appropriate to the intended use.

Reusable products
Reusable products must comply with the hygiene requirements laid down in the Decree, even when reused. These products may not be used temporarily for non-food goods.

Products not intended for reuse
Re-use these products for their original or other food purposes when putting food into circulation.

Product printing
Only dyes and pigments may be used for color printing and decoration of food contact products, which will be firmly anchored on the products and will only be required to be printed on surfaces that do not come into direct contact with food. Printing must not penetrate. Compounds of antimony, arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury and selenium must not be used for printing.

Migration limits
The migration of individual components from plastic materials and products must not exceed the specific migration limits or other restrictions included in the substance list.

What is migration really?
Migration is the transfer of ingredients or substances from plastic products to food. Two types of migration limits have been established to ensure consumer health protection.

For plastics:
1) total migration - characterizes the inertness of the material
2) specific migration - migration of a specific substance that has a toxicological effect on consumer health.

applicable hygiene regulations for other continents
FDA - US hygiene regulations
European Pharmacopoeia and EU Regulation 10/2011
FCM - Japanese hygiene regulations and Chinese hygiene regulations

Want to know more about food packaging and suitable packaging? Do not hesitate to contact our specialists.