Henkel: Safe food packaging

The packaging industry is facing growing challenges when it comes to food safety. Henkel now wants to provide an overview of mineral oil and NIAS (Non-Intentionally Added Substances), the end of the transitional period of the Plastics Regulation and new regulatory approaches.

Food safety has become a key issue for the packaging industry. Among other things, this is due to technological progress in production and processing, the increasing number of complex products and growing awareness on the part of consumers and non-governmental organisations. One confusing situation with the limit value specifications also contributes to this. At Henkel, developers and analysts around the world work on innovative solutions in the field of adhesives and food safety. Over the years, the company has built up 360-degree expertise in this field.

Mineral oil and non-intentionally added substances (NIAS)

„Mineral oils were the prominent topic in the area of food safety in 2016. And there is no reason to assume that their relevance will decrease in the new year,“ says Dr Monika Tönnießen, Manager Product Safety & Regulatory Affairs at Henkel. „Especially when it comes to the migration of mineral oil components into food, there is no room for manoeuvre when it comes to safety.“

This position was also reflected by the participants of the regular Food Safety Webinars back from Henkel.

The possibility of migration of mineral oil components into the packaged product exists for all components of food packaging. Sources for this can be, for example, colours, recycled cardboard, plastic materials, coatings, waxed paper, jute bags or adhesives. At the same time, mineral oils are not a chemically clearly defined substance, but a highly complex composition of a wide variety of different substances. Hydrocarbons. This makes determining, analysing and Toxicological assessment of the respective material is very complicated.

Example PPA

Overall, there are also NIAS According to Tönnießen, NIAS moved more into the focus of the industry in 2016. NIAS generally refers to chemical compounds, that occur in a product even though they were not actively added during the manufacturing process. An example of this are primary aromatic amines (PAA), which are used industrially to produce azo dyes or certain polymers, for example. In connection with laminating adhesives, PAAs can also be formed from aromatic isocyanate residual monomers if the adhesive system is not applied according to the manufacturer's instructions.

For certain PAA it is known that their intake is toxicologically questionable, as they are considered to have a carcinogenic effect. What all these NIAS have in common is that their transfer to the food must be prevented as far as possible. If this is not possible, a risk assessment of the migration must be carried out.

EU market study and food law declarations

The importance of food safety is also demonstrated by the recommendation for a market study published by the EU on 16 January 2017: over the next two years, the member states are to conduct a market study on food and food contact materials from various manufacturers. analyse for mineral oil components. On this basis, a recommendation for limit values will then be issued to the Member States.

This is an important step in the area of food safety - as there are currently no standardised requirements in the EU, only a draft German regulation on mineral oils, which the industry uses for guidance. „The lack of clarity in regulation leads to uncertainty in the industry. They want planning certainty,“ explains Toenniessen, which is in regular dialogue with industry partners.

In-house expertise with individual consultation at Henkel

In this confusing regulatory situation, Henkel wants to offer its customers the best possible service through its In-house expertise and its 360-degree approach. We therefore discuss which adhesives are best suited to the customer's particular application in order to ensure the necessary level of food safety.

The specially developed food law declarations are intended to offer a decisive advantage. These not only explain the regulatory requirements for food packaging, but also provide information on the risk assessments that Henkel carries out for its products. Critically discussed substances such as mineral oil components and PAA are also included in these declarations.

End of the transitional period of the Plastics Ordinance

One issue that market players were also confronted with last year was the end of the transitional period for the Plastics Regulation. Since 1 January 2016, the new test conditions of Regulation (EU) No. 10/2011 for plastic materials in contact with food have applied without restriction. However, this is not the end of the changes for the industry. At least that is what is expected Dr Matthias Frischmann, head of the central analytics department at Henkel:

„Due to the stricter test conditions, the food safety of some components must be reassessed.“

Although adhesives are not covered by the Plastics Regulation, the stricter test conditions are often used as the basis for evaluating adhesives. „This neglects the fact that many formulations cannot even be tested under the required conditions,“ says Frischmann.

He points out that a change in the physico-chemical properties of the products can occur during testing, so that it is no longer possible to speak of a realistic migration test. An evaluation of the real food contact is then hardly feasible.

In order to define clearer standards for the industry as a whole, Henkel is working closely with the Federation of European Adhesive Manufacturers FEICA and, with the work of its experts, makes a decisive contribution to finding a solution.

Knowledge transfer

Henkel's expert knowledge is also available to users via a Food Safety Portal available on the Internet. Tönnießen points this out and invites interested parties to access the extensive online offering at http://www.henkel.com/foodsafety to access. The knowledge database offers white papers, information on legal requirements and opportunities to contact Henkel experts. The dates of the webinars planned for 2017 will be available shortly.

The core offering also includes the Webinars to the topic „Safe food packaging“. „Last year alone, over 1,000 participants benefited from our programme,“ says a delighted Toenniessen about constantly increasing user numbers. The feedback she receives from customers about the content and the documents provided is also very positive. The online seminars are aimed at the entire packaging and food industry and are free of charge.

What will also occupy the EU Commission and therefore the industry in 2017 is a shift in focus away from plastics towards Non-Plastics, above all printing inks.

„So far, there has only been a corresponding regulation for plastics. The legislation wants to change this in 2017 and take a closer look at non-plastics,“ says Toenniessen.