UK law would halve limit on ESBO used to seal baby foods

The draft regulation would also make it simpler for food companies to follow the rules, the UK food regulator stated yesterday in publishing a consultation document along with a draft of the legislation. The consultation includes a call for businesses to submit estimates of any extra costs they may face in cutting down on the use of ESBO.

The proposals will affect manufacturers of food contact plastics and those using PVC gaskets containing ESBO that are used to seal glass jars containing infant formulae and follow-on formulae or containing processed cereal-based foods and baby foods for infants and young children.

The consultation forms the second part of a programme by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to revoke and re-make the UK's laws in compliance with EU regulations on plastic materials that come into contact with foods.

Harmonised European rules on food contact plastics are laid down by Commission directive 2002/72/EC. The rules are routinely amended as technical and scientific knowledge develops.

The rules are implemented in England by the Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (England) Regulations 2006. Those 2006 regulations had already revoked the Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations 1998 and five amending regulations. The 2006 regulations formed the first part of the FSA's programme to consolidate and simplify the law.

As previously reported in FoodProductionDaily.com those 2006 regulations are currently open for consultation, which ends on 30 May.

"In this second part of the exercise we are proposing to revoke and re-make them, rather than just amend them with another amending regulation, but with changes necessary to implement the 2005 EC directive,"​ the FSA stated. "Also, within these proposed regulations we intend to further simplify the regulations and make them easier to understand and comply with by deleting the detailed technical schedules that identified and listed substances used in the manufacture of the materials and articles in question and that provided details of any restrictions placed on their use."​

The schedules were copies of the annexes to the relevant directives. Those annexes remain in force, the FSA stated.

Directive 2005/79/EC amends Directive 2002/72/EC on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food by allowing routine changes to the EU's list of authorised monomers and other starting substances. The authorised list appears in Annex ll to the 2002 Directive and the incomplete list of additives in Annex lll.

The amendments include new substances and make changes to the entries for existing ones following any risk assessment made by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

In particular, the legislation would halve the specific migration limit for ESBO in PVC gaskets, currently set at 60 milligrams per kilogram of food.

PVC gaskets containing ESBO are used to seal glass jars containing infant and follow-on formulae or containing processed cereal-based foods and baby foods for infants and young children.

The change would help ensure that infants and young children who regularly eat these foods would not exceed the amount considered by EFSA as safe to consume daily over a lifetime, the FSA stated.

Under the EU directive the cutoff date for manufacturers is 19 November 2006, after which jars filled after that date would have to comply with the new limit.. Manufacturers would have to register filling dates on the affected jars to be in compliance with the law.

The date of filling may be registered in coded form. Regulators would have to have the actual date available to them on request. The period leading up to the deadline provides a transitional period for the manufacturers to fully switch to new gasket technology, while ensuring the food in the jars remains safe, the FSA stated.

Other changes made by the draft law would also revoke the 2006 regulations implemented as the first stage of the two-part programme. The provisions are remade in the proposed new regulations.

The proposed regulations also now make direct reference to the annexes of Directive 2002/72/EC. The particular annexes referred to list all the substances in the open and closed lists that may be used in the manufacture of food contact plastics, and in relation to specified epoxy derivatives, the manufacture of plastics, adhesives and coatings.

ESBO is used as a plasticiser and stabiliser in PVC gaskets of metal lids used to seal glass jars andbottles. The gasket forms an airtight seal preventing microbiological and other contaminations. The type of packaging is common for baby foods packed in glass jars and bottles.

The public consultation ends 2 June.