Page 24 - Plastics News November 2020

European Commission and the legal framework for Packaging

While the European Commission is working towards
designing the legal framework for Packaging, experts
from AIMPLAS confirms Plastic food packaging is safe
The European Commission is currently reviewing the
legal framework applied to all materials intended to
come into contact with food, Regulation (EC) No.
1935/2004[1], because it acknowledges that the
regulation requires updating and that there are
materials other than plastic (e.g. metal, wood, paper
and cardboard) which food safety is difficult to verify
through application of the regulation.
María Carmen Moreno Lerma, Food Contact and
Packaging Group Leader, and Nuria García Batista,
Chemical Characterization Laboratory Researcher, both allowed in plastic for food contact (requirement for raw
of AIMPLAS, can confirm that plastic food packaging is
materials). It is therefore necessary to verify, from the
safe. AIMPLAS is a Centre for Innovation and Technology starting point of the manufacture of raw materials, that
(CIT) recognised by the Spanish Interministerial all substances are authorized or permitted and that this
Committee of Science and Technology and located in the information, together with any applicable restrictions,
city of Valencia, Spain.
is transmitted along the entire manufacturing chain by
AIMPLAS is a technology centre with 30 years of means of the declaration of compliance mentioned
experience in the plastics industry providing solutions to above. In the manufacture of food packaging,
companies throughout the value chain, from raw substances are used whose safety has already been
material manufacturers to plastic processors and end verified. But it is the final product manufacturer's
users. responsibility to verify that the amount present in the
As consumers, we are increasingly worried about the packaging or that may be transferred to the food via
safety and quality of the packaged food we buy. We want migration is within the limits determined to be safe for
nutritious food and safe food packaging. We have all consumers.
read about phthalates and bisphenols and the effects of In addition to permitted substances, non intentionally
their consumption on human health. Concern is now added substances (NIAS) present in materials other than
growing about the migration of packaging substances the plastic used in manufacture must also be considered,
into foodstuffs. And consumer concern increases when such as impurities present in substances used in
this packaging is made of plastic, despite the fact that manufacture, as well as reaction and/or degradation
plastic is the most controlled material for food contact products formed during packaging manufacture and use.
at European level, which means it is placed on the Although these substances are not included in the EU
market based on maximum guarantees of safety. list, they are subject to risk assessment to verify
This regulation also includes the possibility of compliance with the non-toxicity requirement of the
establishing specific measures for each type of material Framework Regulation. This risk assessment is based on
in order to ensure compliance with the basic principles evaluating not only the toxicity of a substance, but also
established. However, plastics are the only materials the level of exposure to it because risk depends on
that have their own fully developed legislation. These toxicity and time of exposure.
specific measures are developed in Commission Therefore, in terms of the assessment of the compliance
Regulation (EU) No. 10/2011[2] and its subsequent of plastic products for food contact, in addition to new
amendments, and establish the requirements that raw requirements for the known components (formulation)
materials and finished products must meet. In addition, of plastics, there has been a gradual increase among end
its Annex IV describes the information that must be customers in requirements regarding the analysis of
included in the declaration of compliance (a key NIAS. In fact, plastic leads the way in safety compared to
document for the transmission of all information other materials and boasts different working groups
necessary for compliance with Regulation 10/2011 in the (e.g. ILSI Europe, the International Life Science
supply chain). Institute; EuPIA[3], the European Printing Ink
Regulation 10/2011 also indicates the substances Association; and the Italian Institute of Packaging[4])
(additives, monomers, etc., previously evaluated by the that try to shed light on the topic and, above all,
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)) whose use is standardize the protocol to be followed by publishing

NOVEMBER 2020 24 Plastics News