Plastics used in food preparation and processing areas need to conform to a special set of regulations, to ensure that all food they come in contact with remains safe to eat.

To optimise food equipment hygiene compliance, engineering plastics leader Cut To Size Plastics is introducing the globally proven Wefapress Beck + Co. GmbH Food Secure Products (FSP) range to Australia and New Zealand.

The FSP range has been certified to EU Regulation 10/2011, which is among the strictest standards in the world. EU Regulation 10/2011 covers areas such as starting substances, production aids, migration tests, declaration of conformity, traceability and good manufacturing practice.

“Because these plastics meet all the requirements of the EU standards, which are some of the strictest globally, they set a very high standard locally for food safe materials,” said Mr Laurie Green, Managing Director, Cut To Size Plastics, which has been distributing plastics from leading German supplier, Wefapress, for decades.

Work in the food industry is subject to strict hygiene standards that also apply in interaction with plastics. Plastics in this segment must be physiologically harmless in order to come in contact with food. This not only protects the health of the consumer, but also the composition of the food and its organoleptic properties.

Wefapress has been a leader in food safety for decades. When the latest regulations came out, some of the items considered to be new standards of best-practice had been a matter of course for them for many years already.

Key elements of Food Secure compliance

Regulations around what materials can be used on food preparation surfaces and equipment centre around five key points:

1. List of starting substances and production aids. Defines the materials to be used for production: Authorised are only the starting substances and production aids from the ‘Union List’ (approx. 800 in total).

1. Migration test. Requires standard tests with food simulants, times and temperatures which should reflect the actual situation. Testing covers the OML (Overall Migration Limit), which is the maximum quantity of substances that a material is permitted to release into a food, as well as the SML (Specific Migration Limit), which is the maximum quantity of a particular substance that is allowed to be released into a food.

1. Declaration of Conformity. Contains information on regulations related to food laws and statements on the suitability for possible use. It is valid until a material has been changed and therefore the migration also changes or until new scientific findings are available.

1. Traceability. It must be possible to trace the material through all value creation stages.

1. GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice). The manufacture must take place in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No. 2023/2006, also known as GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice), which regulates the quality system, quality control system and documentation.

 All of these materials are accessible from Cut To Size by Australian and New Zealand companies, says Mr Green.

Wefapress and Cut To Size can also provide Individual calculation of migration.