Since July 2009, Directive 2002/72/EC has been amended by (EU, 2008d, e):
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Directive 2004/1/EC suspended the use of azodicarbonamide blowing agents from August 2, 2005.
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Directive 2004/19/EC (EU, 2004b) updates the positive list of authorized substances and establishes that the list of authorized additives will become a positive list with specific deadlines.
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Directive 2005/79/EC (European Union, 2005a) updated the positive list of authorized substances.
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Directive 2007/19/EC lays down requirements for phthalates in lid gaskets and introduces fat loss reduction factors to be considered in migration tests and functional barrier concepts. It also updated the positive list of authorized substances and confirmed the ban on the use of azodicarbonamide in the manufacture of foamed plastic materials and articles.
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Directive 2008/39/EC updates the list of authorized substances used in the manufacture of plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food and clarifies the criteria for removing additives from the provisional list. It also stipulates that the EU additive list will become a positive list on January 1, 2010. This means that after this date, only the listed additives will be allowed to produce plastic FCM in the EU. However, after that date, substances on the Provisional List can continue to be used in accordance with national law until a final decision is made on whether to include them in the Positive List of Additives. This provisional list includes all additives currently being assessed by EFSA and applications were submitted in azodicarbonamide December 2006.
Council Directive 82/711/EEC lays down the basic rules for testing the migration of constituents of plastic materials and articles coming into contact with food. It has been amended by Directive 93/8/EEC and Directive 97/48/EC (EU, 2008e).
Council Directive 85/572/EEC (European Union, 1985) originally governing simulants for testing the migration of constituents of plastic materials and articles coming into contact with food has been amended by Directive 2007/19/EC. These Directives, combined with Council Directive 82/711/EEC, as amended by Directives 93/8/EEC and 97/48/EC; and Directive 2002/72/EC, as amended by Directive 2007/19/EC, detail The current nature of food simulants and basic rules for migration testing (EU, 2008e).
Food simulants are defined that represent different extraction properties of foods or groups of foods. The main simulants used to verify the migration limits of plastic FCMs are:
(A)
Aqueous non-acidic simulants: distilled water;
(two)
Aqueous acid simulant: acetic acid 3% (w/v) in water;
(C)
Alcohol simulants: 10% (v/v) ethanol in water, or higher concentrations of ethanol;
(Four)
Fatty food simulants: distilled olive oil, or a blend of synthetic triglycerides or sunflower oil.
In the latter case (d), to make migration testing easier, alternative fatty food simulants can be used, such as 95% (v/v) ethanol in water, or isooctane, or MPPO (modified polyphenylene ether).
Council Directive 85/572/EEC, as amended by Directive 2007/19/EC, provides a table where established simulants correspond to different foods or food groups. The food list is extensive and includes beverages, cereals, chocolate products, sugar and confectionery products, fruits and vegetables, fats and oils, animal and dairy products, etc. An interesting point is that in the final amendment, the simulant assigned to milk was 50% (v/v) ethanol in water.
Commission Regulation (EC) No 372/2007 sets out transition migration limits for plasticizers in lid gaskets intended to come into contact with food. It has been amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 597/2008 (EU, 2008e).
As mentioned earlier in this chapter (see Section 14.1.4.3, Functional Impairments), Regulation (EC) 282/2008 lays down the necessary conditions for recycled plastic materials and articles for FCM, the necessary conditions for the manufacturing process of recycled materials and final packaging and articles, and authorization procedures for recycling processes used to manufacture recycled plastics for food contact