Global Food Contact Materials Regulations

This module will focus on the standards and specifications for utensils, containers and packages (UCPs) issued by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDA) of South Korea and the existing FCM Regulations in India, with special attention to the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Packaging Regulations 2018 amended as of 18 January 2022. The allowance of post-consumer recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PCR-PET) in food contact applications in India, will be discussed, considering the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules of 2022.

During this module, you will learn about:

• the standards and specifications for FCMs that apply in South Korea;
• the requirements of the new mandatory Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) on paper, plastics, metal FCMs as well as on printing inks for food contact applications; the non-mandatory BIS on glass FCMs will also be presented;
• the restrictions for certain key listed food contact additives or FCM substances with respect to their specific migration limits (SMLs);
• how to carry out a worst-case calculation (WCC) in cases of missing experimental or theoretical (modelling) migration data;
• migration testing conditions to be applied, with case study examples;
• the analytical challenges in identifying non-intentionally added substances (Nias) that migrate into food under intended conditions of use;
• key steps when considering the risk assessment of FCM substances migrating into food; and
• how to demonstrate compliance of materials and articles intended for use in food contact applications on these two markets, and the importance of place in the supply chain.

Ioan Paraschiv, PhD

Group Leader, Global Food & Food Contact Materials (FFCM) Division, Knoell, Netherlands