Food Compliance
Intelligence & Solutions
Home / News / Details

China Consults on 18 Food Safety National Standards, involving FCM and Food Additives

Four FCM standards and thirteen food additive standards are involved. Overall migration limit for some food contact material and articles that contact infant and children is specified as ≤ 60mg/kg.

On October 15th, 2020, the Food Safety National Standard Review Committee released eighteen food safety national standard exposure drafts for public comments. The drafts include eleven food additive GB standards, four food contact material standards, two food additive GB standard modification lists, and one detergent standard. Comments should be submitted to food safety national standard management online information system before November 30th, 2020.[1]  

1. Food additive standards

The eleven new food additive standards involve gum base and its ingredients, phospholipid, cowberry red, indigotine aluminum lake, eugenol, steviol glycosides, calcium propionate, tea polyphenol palmitate, phospholipid (milk source), ε-polylysine, and vegetable activated carbon (rice husk activated carbon). The two modification lists are for GB 1886.92-2016 Sodium Stearyl Lactylate and GB 1886.179-2016 Calcium Stearyl Lactylate.

2. Food Contact Material

Paper and Paperboard in Contact with Foodstuffs

This draft standard is expected to replace GB 4806.8-2016 Paper and Paperboard in Contact with Foodstuffs. The expression in the application scope "This standard doesn't apply to regenerated cellulose membranes (cellophane) food contact material and articles." is deleted since an independent new standard regarding regenerated cellulose membranes (cellophane) food contact material and articles will be made.

Major technical requirement changes in this draft are as follows:

  • Residue limits of 3-MCPD and 1,3-DCP are added to the residue limit requirements as their toxicity are globally recognized;

  • Potassium permanganate consumption and heavy metal (calculated as Pb) are deleted from the table of Migration Index;

  • In the description of overall migration level, requirement of FCM for infant and young children food is specifically demonstrated as ≤ 60 mg/kg.

Food Contact Composite Materials and Articles

The draft of standard for food contact composite materials and articles is expected to replace GB 9683-1988 Hygienic Standard for Composite Laminated Food Packaging Bag. The contents of this draft include scope, terms and definition, basic requirements, technical requirements, and others.

According to raw material requirements specified in the draft, basic resins and other raw materials should follow relevant national standards and notifications; additives should comply with GB 9685. For substances that are not listed in relevant national standards or notifications, if they do not directly contact food and there is an effective block layer between food and the substances, the migration amount in food should not exceed 0.1mg/kg. However, cancerogen, teratogen, mutagenic substances and nano-substances do not apply to the principle mentioned above.

In the label of food contact composite materials and articles, each layer of the materials should be specified, in the order from the direct food contact layer to outer layers, with a "/" between each layer. Special usage requirements of each layer should also be clearly labeled in its entirety.

Printing Ink for Food Contact Materials and Articles

This is a new standard draft for food contact printing ink. The contents of this draft include scope, terms and definitions, product classification, basic requirements, technical requirements and others.

Printing ink for FCM is classified into direct food contact printing ink and indirect food contact printing ink. Material requirements differ according to the product type. Basic raw materials and additives for direct food contact printing ink should comply with GB 2760-2014 Standard for Uses of Food Additives. Resins used in indirect food contact printing ink should be permitted to use in FCM. (See GB 4806.6-2016 Resins Used to Make Plastics in Contact with Foodstuffs and Resins Permitted in China for the whole positive permitted resin list.) Colorant based on Pb, Hg, Cd, Cr, As, Sb, Se and their compounds are not allowed in indirect food contact printing ink. Additives and purity of colorants used in indirect food contact printing ink should comply with GB 9685 Standard for Uses of Additives in Food Contact Materials and Articles. Printing ink products should specify product type (direct/indirect) on their labels.

Food Contact Bamboo and Wood Material and Articles

This is a new standard draft applicable for materials and products using bamboo, wood or cork wood as raw materials (including cork and vegetable fiberboard container) that may contact food or food additives. The contents of this draft include scope, terms and definitions, basic requirements, technical requirements, and others.

Technical requirements of food contact bamboo include five items: raw material requirement, sensory requirement, physicochemical indexes, microorganism limits and others. In physicochemical indexes, the overall migration amount for bamboo and wood material and articles that contact infant and children food should be ≤ 60 mg/kg.

We provide full-scale global food market entry services (including product registration, ingredient review, regulatory consultation, customized training, market research, branding strategy). Please contact us to discuss how we can help you by food@chemlinked.com
Copyright: unless otherwise stated all contents of this website are ©2024 - REACH24H Consulting Group - All Rights Reserved - For permission to use any content on this site, please contact cleditor@chemlinked.com