Presentation
The European Union Reference Laboratory for Food Contact Materials (EURL-FCM) and the National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) in the network have agreed on a set of test conditions (temperature and contact time) to ensure the comparability of measurement results reported as part of the implementation of official controls (Regulation (EU) 2017/625) for food contact materials (FCMs).
The test conditions specified in this 4th version of the guide apply only to items for domestic use. These test conditions can also be used as a starting point for establishing test conditions for articles for industrial use where the applicable test conditions might be different. The 6 tables included in these new guidelines replace the relevant sections of the 1re version of the guide published in 2009 as well as the guidelines present in the three editions of the guide published in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
For plastics, migration test conditions (global and specific) are based on expert opinion on foreseeable "worst case" conditions of use by the consumer, followed by application of the principles of Regulation (EU) No. 10/2011. These choices are based on considerations of how consumers might use the article, not how the article's producer envisaged it would be used. Furthermore, there is no specific European legislation for metals and alloys, silicone and rubber, or paper and cardboard in contact with food. National legislation therefore applies. In the absence of national legislation, the test conditions (duration and temperature) presented in these guidelines (based on test conditions for plastic articles) should apply.