Food contact materials should be safe and should not transfer their components into the foodstuff in unacceptable quantities. The transfer of constituents from food contact materials into food is called migration. To ensure the protection of the health of the consumer and to avoid any contamination of the foodstuff two types of migration limits have been established for plastic materials:

- An Overall Migration Limit (OML) of 60mg (of substances)/kg (of foodstuff or food simulants) that applies to all substances that can migrate from food contact materials to foodstuffs;

- Specific Migration Limit (SML) which applies to individual authorised substances and is fixed on the basis of the toxicological evaluation of the substance. The SML is generally established according to the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) or the Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) set by the Scientific Committee on Food (SCF). To set the limit, it is assumed that, every day throughout his/her lifetime, a person weighing 60kg eats 1kg of food packed in plastics containing the relevant substance at the maximum permitted quantity.

Food contact materials and articles are regulated by three types of directives:
- The Framework Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 sets up general requirements for all food contact materials;

- Specific Directives cover single groups of materials and articles listed in the Framework Directive;

- Directives on Individual Substances or groups of substances used in the manufacture of materials and articles intended for food contact;

A "Practical Guide" to Community legislation gives explanations and examples of legal terms which may be helpful for the general reader.


::: Web site: Food Contact Materials