Regulation 10/2011 on plastic materials designed to contact food substances and TENAX

The new Regulation 10/2011 on plastic materialss and articles intended to come into contact with food substances introduce a new food simulant: TENAX.

This new issue gets in trouble many food packaging and food articles suppliers.

Where this simulant should be used?

Granted that the new food simulants established by Regulation 10/2011 could not be used before 2012, it is important define that TENAX must be used only to check compliance of SPECIFIC MIGRATION LIMITS (SML) of a specific substance (so only in case the material contains a substance or more substances for which SML are established) when the material/article is designed to contact DRY FOOD ONLY.

In other words, if the article in object is also designed to contact different kind of foods (aqueous or fatty or alcoholic in example), the evaluation with TENAX should be avoided since the SML compliance will be evaluated with the other simulants (more aggressive than TENAX probably).

What is TENAX:
Tenax is a porous polymer resin It has been specifically designed to trap volatiles and semi-volatiles from air or which have been extracted from liquid or solid sample matrices.

See more at www.foodcontactmaterials.info