On August 19, 2015 the Nordic Council of Ministers (Norden) published the report “Nordic project food contact materials: Control of declarations of compliance (DoC).” The report covers the results of a joint project on compliance of food contact materials (FCMs) in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands that was conducted from 2013 to 2015. In the scope of the project, establishments that produce, import or use plastic FCMs were controlled and the declarations of compliance (DoCs) for 280 plastic FCMs were reviewed. Additionally, some FCMs were analyzed for phthalates. In total, the inspected establishments provided DoCs for 89% of the 280 plastic FCMs. 53% of the provided DoCs had adequate information about migration of chemicals from the FCM into food, 59% of DoCs included sufficient information about dual use additives (DUA), and 70% of DoCs covered satisfactory specification of FCM use. 45% of the provided DoCs provided overall sufficient information and were rated with the label “good quality”. 19 samples of soft plastic used in FCMs for fatty food were analyzed for dibutyl phthalate (DBP, CAS 84-74-2), diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP, CAS 117-81-7), diisononyl phthalate (DiNP, CAS 28553-12-0 or 68515–48–0), and diisodecyl phthalate (DiDP, CAS 26761-40-0 or 68515–49–0) at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). 32% of the samples were non-compliant, containing DEHP and DBP in amounts higher than the maximum permitted residual contents or containing DiNP higher than the specific migration limit. Non-compliant FCM samples originated from gloves, hoses and conveyer belts. The authors conclude that establishments producing, importing or using plastic FCMs need to improve issuing and checking of DoCs. Therefore, it is thought to be essential that the competent national authorities have the legal basis to guide and control the activities of the FCM industry.

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Li, Å. et al. (2015). “Nordic project food contact materials: Control of declarations of compliance (DoC).Nordic Council of Ministers

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