Germany’s BFR Amends Recommendations for Several Types of Food Contact Material and Articles

SafeGuardSHardgoodsAugust 21, 2024

SG 133/24

The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung, BfR) has amended recommendations for five different types of food contact material (FCM) and article. These recommendations can be regarded as effective immediately.

In August 2024, Germany’s BfR issued five revised recommendations for food contact silicones, paper and board, as well as temperature resistant polymer coatings for utensils used at high temperatures.

The five amended recommendations (in German or English) are:

Recommendation XV ‘Silicones
Recommendation XXXVI ‘Paper and board for food contact
Recommendation XXXVI/1 ‘Cooking paper, hot filter paper and filter layer’
Recommendation XXXVI/2 ‘Paper and paperboard for baking purposes’
Recommendation LI ‘Temperature resistant polymer coating systems for frying, cooking and baking utensils’

Highlights of these recommendations are summarized in Table 1.

Recommendation as of August 1, 2024		Highlights
XV ‘Silicones’		When compared to its February 2023 version: Deletes the requirement for extractable components (Section III, 5) Provides an alternative set of testing conditions for volatile organic components for articles that cannot withstand the thermal testing conditions under the provided BFR method. These alternative conditions are in accordance with Table 3 of Annex V in Regulation (EU) 10/2011 on food contact plastics (consolidated version to August 2023 for reference). Additionally, it emphasizes that the testing conditions apply to composite materials or articles with plastic or textiles such as conveyor belts, coated textiles or two-component injection molded parts for seals (footnote 16)
XXXVI ‘Paper and board for food contact’		When compared to its February 2023 version: Expands the number of sizing agents from 32 to 34 (Section (BI)), retention agents from15 to 16 (Section B, III), preservatives from 13 to 14 by including sodium benzoate (Section B, VIII), wet-strength agents from 15 to 16 by including polyvinyl alcohol (PVA, Section C, I) and surface refining agents and coating agents from 44 to 45 (Section C, IV) Strengthens the limit values of DEHP, DBP and DIBP for the use of recycled fibers as raw materials for the production of paper (see Table 2 below for a comparison between the chemicals under the annex in the 2023 and 2024 versions)
XXXVI/1 ‘Cooking paper, hot filter paper and filter layers’		When compared to its February 2023 version, expands the scope of silicates or mixed silicates to include sodium (Section I, B2 ‘Auxiliary agents’)
XXXXI/2 ‘Paper and paperboard for baking purposes’		When compared to its February 2023 version: Expands the scope of silicates or mixed silicates to include sodium (Section I, B2 ‘Fillers’) Adds starch sodium octenyl succinate with specifications to expand the number of entries from 16 to 17 (Section III, D ‘Surface refining agents for the food contact surface’)
LI ‘Temperature-resistant coating systems made of polymers for frying, cooking and baking equipment’		When compared to its April 2022 version: Emphasizes that the conditions for food preparation utensils under classes FPU/H2, FPU/H3, and a modified time for FPU/H4 are applied (‘Testing conditions for kitchenware articles in contact with foodstuffs: Plastics, Metals, Silicone & Rubber, Paper & Board’ (Beldi et al., 2023)) Specifies that testing with modified polyphenylene oxides (MPPO) is conducted at 175 °C for 2 hours (DIN EN 14338) Indicates the use of the current version of the EQDM Technical Guideline for Metals and Alloys (SafeGuardS 125/24 and references therein) for element permeability testing ≤ 10 mg/dm² for overall migration using 95% ethanol (60 °C for 6 hours) and isooctane (60 °C for 4 hours)

Table 1

Entry	Substance	Annex to Recommendation XXXVI, as of August 1, 2024 (migration into foodstuff)	Annex to Recommendation XXXVI, as of February 1, 2023 (migration into foodstuff)
1	4,4’-bis(dimethyamino)-benzophenone	ND (DL 0.01 mg/kg)¹	ND (DL 0.01 mg/kg)²
2	Phthalates: Diethylhexy phthalate (DEHP) Di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) Diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP)	0.6 mg/kg (DEHP) 0.12 mg/kg (DBP) 0.15 mg/kg (DIBP) (≤ 0.6 mg/kg for sum of DBP, DIBP and DEHP, calculated as DEHP equivalents using the formula DBP x 5 + DIBP x 4 + DEHP x 1)	1.5 mg/kg (DEHP) 0.3 mg/kg (DBP) 0.3 mg/kg (DIBP) (≤ 0.3 mg/kg for sum of DBP and DIBP)
3	Benzophenone	0.6 mg/kg	0.6 mg/kg
4	Bisphenol A (BPA)	0.05 mg/kg¹	0.05 mg/kg²
5	Bisphenol S (BPS)	0.05 mg/kg¹	0.05 mg/kg²
6	Diisopropyl naphthalene	As low as technically feasible	As low as technically feasible

Table 2. Annex to Recommendation XXXVI ‘Paper and board for food contact’

¹Testing is not necessary if paper and board are intended for contact with dry food and at the same time non-fatty foodstuffs (e.g. flour, semolina, rice, breakfast cereals, breadcrumbs, sugar and salt)

²Verification of the specifications is only required if the finished goods are intended for use with moist and fatty foodstuffs

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