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 SUITABILITY FOR FOOD CONTACT IN THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY
 
Suitability for food contact in the European Community

In the European Community, the suitability for food contact is regulated by Regulation EC n. 1935/2004, which abrogates Directive 89/109/EEC and sets the general principles for materials intended to come into contact with foodstuffs. In particular, as far as plastic materials are concerned, the reference Directive is Dir. 2002/72/EC and subsequent amendments, which has revoked and replaced Dir. 90/128/EEC.

This Directive lists, in two distinct positive lists, all the monomers and additives suitable for food contact; sets an overall migration limit (OML) of 60 mg/kg for all substances migrating from a material into foodstuffs and indicates, for certain substances, more restrictive specific migration limits (SML).
The main advantage of these Directives is that they harmonize the various national legislations of EC Member States, so that a product manufactured in one Country can be exported to any other.

In this connection, the Italian regulation reference is the Ministry of Health Decree of 21 March 1973, eventually amended by Ministerial Decree n. 227 of 4 May 2006, concerning sanitary regulations for packaging materials, containers and tools intended to come into contact with foodstuffs.

Lati S.p.A. counts, among its wide range of products, formulations specifically studied for suitability for food contact which provide for the substances listed in the above-mentioned positive lists and complies, thanks to its certified Quality System UNI EN ISO 9001:2008, with art. 17 of Regulation 1935/2004 with regard to the traceability principle. These types of products follow a dedicated manufacturing procedure in order to guarantee the highest standards of quality, with checks and tests during the entire production cycle, going beyond mere legal prescriptions.

Each product, upon request, comes with a certificate of conformity; in this connection, it is paramount that the customer provides specific information regarding the destination market of the finished product, since not all substances suitable in Europe are also suitable in the U.S. and vice versa.

The strong point of Lati S.p.A. is that it is able to use various types of resins with properties and colours depending on the specific needs of the customer.

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