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Amendment of EU regulation on plastic materials that come into contact with food

The new regulation (EU) 2016/1416 contains amendments to regulation (EU) Nr. 10/2011 about plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food.

Regulation (EU) 2016/1416 came into force on 14 September 2016.
Please find the most important amendments below:

  • Annex 1: Entries in the positive list were amended for several substances and some authorised substances were added.
  • The term "hot-fill" was introduced and defined.
  • Annex 2: For aluminium in food contact materials, a specific migration limit of 1mg/kg was added. For zinc, the migration limit was reduced to 5mg/kg.
  • The general migration limit of 60mg/kg for all substances for which no specific migration limit exists was removed.
  • The assignment of food simulants was adapted.
  • Test conditions for the migration test were partly changed.

Transitional arrangements apply for some amendments:

  • Plastic materials and articles complying with regulation (EU) No 10/2011 as applicable before this regulation came into force may be placed on the market until 14 September 2017 and may remain on the market until the exhaustion of stocks.
  • The amendments of the specific migration limit of aluminium and zinc and the assignments of food simulants shall apply from 14 September 2018.

Please see EUR-Lex for the full text of Regulation (EU) 2016/1416.

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