Food safe plastics safety and compliance testing for UK/EU (Commission regulations (EU) 2020/1245 and council directive 1935/2004EC)
Food safe products and contact materials
In the UK and EU, all plastic products intended to come into contact with food (including kitchen utensils, sports bottles, food boxes, food bags, lunch boxes, feeding bottles and lunch bags, etc.) must not transfer materials into the food that will affect its taste or quality.
In order to make sure this doesn't happen, all food contact products must be rigorously tested. During testing, the product is exposed to a range of food simulants at high temperatures and over long periods of time to verify compliance in overall standards such as migration, specific metal release and specific monomer release.
This standard is governed by the umbrella framework directive 1935/2004 EC and is also implemented in the UK. For plastics, compliance with this directive is by specific commission regulation (EU) 10/2011, amended by (EU) 2020/1245 - plastic materials and articles in contact with food regulations.
Overall migration
Overall migration pertains to any materials that can migrate from the plastic or food contact material into foods. Whilst identification of the migrating substances is not required, results can be used for assessing non-volatile specific monomers such as BPA, PAA etc.
EN1186 Parts 1, 3, 9 & 14 are established standards for overall migration testing. Part 1 specifies test conditions and appropriate simulants. This supports Annex II Table 2 conditions of (EU)2020/1245.
Specific metal release
Specific metals release is the determination of metals specified in Annex 11 Table 1 of (EU) 2020/1245 that could migrate into food stuffs. Unlike overall migration, as there are no assigned simulants, EN13130 Part1 forms the basis of selecting simulants and conditions.
Specific monomer release
Specific monomer release such as BPA, PAA, Formaldehyde, Phthalates etc. applies to the type of plastic. As there are no assigned simulants for specific monomer release testing, EN13130 Part1 forms the basis of selecting simulants and conditions
At the Northern Testhouse, we perform tests to support commission regulations (EU)2020/1245.
After an initial review, we will test your product and assess its conformity for the relevant safety test and certification needed to import, distribute, or sell it.
If your product passes, you will receive:
The product test reports
The UK/EU certification you need
Should your product fail, we will advise you on how to make it safe.