Masterbatch supplier Cabot has welcomed new specifications from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for carbon black in plastics products used for food contact applications - “for introducing science based standards about this material for the first time to the whole EU”.
In the past, carbon black used in plastics food contact applications has not been covered by any European legislation and was regulated in some countries by national legislation, which varied from country to country, and in other countries by recommended standards that were not mandatory.
The decision to evaluate carbon black in plastics food contact applications was taken because, although the material does not itself migrate, some impurities such as poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) may do so in some circumstances. So it was important to define adequate purity criteria for the carbon black to ensure that neither benzo(a)pyrene nor other carcinogenic PAHs can migrate from the food contact article into the food.
In order to avoid migration of undesirable impurities, the EC has issued Directive 2007/19/EC, which came into force on May 1, 2008. These new requirements are applicable to plastics articles for food contact within the EU. To allow time for the food industry and its suppliers to adjust to the new standards, existing film and containers that have already been manufactured to the previous standards can be used until May 1, 2009.
