The European Commission (EC) has adopted Recommendation (EU) 2017/84 on the monitoring of mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOHs) in food and in materials and articles intended to come into contact with food. The Recommendation directs Member States—with the active involvement of industry—to monitor the presence of MOHs during 2017 and 2018 in specific categories of food products, as well as those food-contact materials used to hold such products.
Keller and Heckman Partner Rachida Semail and Scientist Rob Veraart will be among the presenters at the Xeikon Café Packaging Innovations Conference and Exhibition. Ms. Semail will speak on legal responsibilities in the food packaging supply, and Dr. Veraart will speak on migration testing of printed inks applied on food-contact materials.
For more information on the conference or to register, click here.
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission (EC) has published a 332-page baseline study on food-contact materials that are not specifically regulated at the European Union (EU) level, titled, “Non-harmonised food contact materials in the EU: regulatory and market situation.”
A new database of chemical substances evaluated by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is accessible on the EFSA’s website. This Chemical Hazards Database, OpenFoodTox, provides information on risk assessments conducted by the EFSA on more than 4,000 substances in over 1,650 Scientific Opinions, Statements, and Conclusions. Previously, it was necessary to access the individual opinions, statements or conclusions to locate this information.
An Amendment to the Packaging and Utensils Regulation was published in the Dutch Official Journal. It is only available in Dutch. In summary it
Keller and Heckman Partner Rachida Semail will be speaking at Smithers PIRA’s Plastics and Paper in Contact with Foodstuffs 2016 Conference, on December 8. The conference will provide an overview on the latest laws and regulations affecting plastics and paper packaging in contact with food. It will also include information on inks, coating, and adhesives, along with compliance case studies.
Ms. Semail’s presentation is titled, “National European regulations for non-harmonized FCM inks and coatings.”
Keller and Heckman is pleased to announce that registration is now open for its Food Packaging Law Seminar scheduled for 8-9 March 2017 in Brussels, Belgium. Now in its 10th consecutive year, this comprehensive course is designed for regulatory, scientific, and legal professionals so that they may keep up-to-date on the latest food packaging law developments.
Click here to register.
The European Parliament (EP) adopted on October 6, 2016, a Resolution on the Implementation of the Food Contact Materials Regulation ((EC) No 1935/2004 or the Framework Regulation). Of particular significance, is that the Resolution puts pressure on the European Commission (EC) to develop specific measures for the 13 categories of food-contact materials (FCMs) that are not yet harmonized at the EU level and that are, therefore, subject to the laws of the Member States, and the mutual recognition principle. Below is summary of the main points in the resolution.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reviewed two studies by Ménard et al. (2014) at the request of the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and concluded that they did not justify revising the temporary tolerable daily intake (t-TDI) for bisphenol A (BPA).
The European Commission published Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/1416—which is the sixth amendment to the Plastics Regulation, (EU) No 10/2011—in the Official Journal of the European Union on August 25, 2016.