On September 30, 2014 the Official Food Safety Authority of the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland (KLHZ) published a release reporting that certain polymer manufacturers may not comply with their obligation to provide safety information for their products. The KLZH requested Documents of Compliance (DoC) from 9 large, international companies on one polymer product each. The information was not requested directly by the KLZH but rather via the Swiss processing industry. The campaign was carried out together with the Official Food Safety Authorities of two other Swiss cantons. None of the companies to which requests were sent presented the required evidence of conformity. While 2 manufacturers did not reply to the request at all, 5 others provided a declaration that the materials were suitable for use in food contact but no evidence supporting this claim. The 2 final manufacturers provided additional but incomplete information. None of the manufacturers sent a list of potential migrants.
In their report, the KLZH thus concluded that the manufacturers did not comply with their obligations under Swiss law. DoCs are also required under the European plastics regulation EC 10/2011. The KLZH questions whether processing companies can ensure the safety of their products when suppliers do not provide them with detailed safety information. Without this information companies may not be able to sufficiently safeguard against substances migrating out of food contact materials. The KLZH states in its report that the international companies failed to display cooperation towards the Swiss enforcement authorities.
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KLZH (September 30, 2014). “Kunststoffhersteller liefern ungenügende Daten.”
