Food Contact
FEICA is committed to inform on the safety of our products in the supply chain, both upstream and downstream
FEICA has published several guidance documents and recommendations to help producers and users of food contact adhesives such as packaging converters and their downstream users as well as other stakeholders, such as legislators.
An overview of pertinent Guidance Papers
- Terminology and definitions to be used in the context of adhesives in the recycling of packaging (2021)
- Adhesives under the scope of the EU Single-Use Plastic Directive (EU) 2019/904 (2021)
- Study on oligomeric hydrocarbons from hotmelt adhesives used in cardboard packaging (2021)
- FEICA Position Paper on biodegradability and compostability of packaging adhesives (2020).
- FEICA recommendation to adhesive suppliers and users on the assessment of PAAs in polyurethane adhesives intended to be used in food packaging (2020).
- FEICA risk assessment of cyclic esters in polyester adhesives Press Release (2020) - for more details see Events section below.
- FEICA recommendation to substitute GLYMO by the end of 2020 in applications intended for food contact (2019)
- FEICA holds Seminar on ‘Safe Adhesives for Safe Food’ in Brussels (2017) - for more details see Events section below.
- FEICA guidance related to the food contact status of adhesives and mineral oil hydrocarbons (2017) - Also available in French, German, Spanish and Dutch (on demand).
- FEICA guidance on migration testing of adhesives intended for food contact material (2016) - Also available in French, German, Spanish and Italian.
- FEICA guidance for Good Manufacturing Practice - GMP (2015) - Also available in French, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch (on demand).
- FEICA guidance for a food contact status declaration for adhesives (2014) - Also available in French, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch (on demand).
- ILSI Europe Report on Adhesives for Food Packaging Materials (2018).
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JCR Technical Report: Practical guidelines on the application of migration modelling for the estimation of specific migration (2015).
More documents and information are available for members only on the FEICA Extranet.
Events
During this webinar, FEICA elaborated on adhesives in plastic packaging and how to correctly communicate specifications. These were the key takeaways:
- Cooperation in the supply chain is key to successfully implementing a circular economy
- Speaking the same language will help the supply chain to collaborate efficiently
- Adhesives and adhesive applications are subject to constant innovation and optimisation. Technology-neutral guidelines help enable and accommodate these innovations
Please consult the presentation slides of the FEICA webinar ‘Communicating on adhesives in plastic recycling’ or download the FEICA paper ‘Terminology and definitions to be used in the context of plastic packaging recycling’ for more information on this topic.
FEICA organised this webinar to inform stakeholders about the FEICA project aimed at supporting our customers in their compliance work and help them to demonstrate the safety of our adhesives in their products. These were the main takeaways:
- Typical hotmelts for food packaging do not contain mineral oil
- The FEICA testing project could demonstrate the safety of representative hotmelts for food contact materials
- A correlation can be established between extraction, simulation and testing on real foodstuff when simulation will predict real migration with a safety margin
You can also view the webinar presentation slides on the FEICA website.
During this webinar, Matthias Frischmann, food chemist and Head of Corporate Analytics at Henkel in Düsseldorf introduced the topic of cyclic esters, explained the risk assessment that was carried out and the responsibilities of each actor in the supply chain of PU and heat seal adhesives.
A summary of the report and the slides of the FEICA risk assessment of cyclic esters in polyester adhesives are available on the FEICA extranet.
FEICA held a seminar titled 'Safe Adhesives for Safe Food' for all actors in the supply chain. The seminar concentrated on migration testing of adhesives and especially the testing of the migration of mineral oil hydrocarbons.
The proceedings are available for download by clicking on the titles.
- Introduction to the adhesive industry and the food packaging sector, by Alexandra Ross, Product Regulatory Specialist, H.B. Fuller.
- Migration testing approaches for adhesives, by André Weiss, Manager Instrumental Analytics, Food Safety, Henkel.
- Mineral oil hydrocarbons - toxicological and regulatory background, by Anna Hedelin, Senior Staff Researcher Toxicology, Nynas.
- Mineral oil hydrocarbons in adhesives, by Monika Toenniessen, Regional Product Safety & Regulatory Affairs Manager Europe, Henkel.
- Testing mineral oil and synthetic hydrocarbon from adhesives into food, by Martin Lommatzsch, Analytical Chemist and Entrepreneur, Laboratory Lommatzsch.
- FEICA guidance and recommendations to the industry, by Jana Cohrs, Executive Director Regulatory Affairs, FEICA.