July 27, 2015
Nordic Council of Ministers (NORDEN) has released a guidance document for metals and alloys used in food contact materials to assist food industry and inspection authorities. It has recommended specific release limits (SRL) for the following metals:
| Metal | Requirement (Release, mg/kg) |
| Aluminium | 5 |
| Antimony | 0.04 |
| Arsenic | 0.002 |
| Barium | 1.2 |
| Beryllium | 0.01 |
| Cadmium | 0.005 |
| Chromium | 0.23 |
| Cobalt | 0.02 |
| Copper | 4 |
| Iron | 40 |
| Lead | 0.01 |
| Lithium | 0.048 |
| Magnesium | -* |
| Manganese | 1.8 |
| Mercury | 0.003 |
| Molybdenum | 0.12 |
| Nickel | 0.14 |
| Silver | 0.08 |
| Thallium | 0.0001 |
| Tin | 100 |
| Titanium | -* |
| Vanadium | 0.01 |
| Zinc | 5 |
* Deriving an SRL was found unnecessary.
NORDEN hopes the document will create a “call for uniform guidance” across Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The guidance has been in accordance with relevant legislation and risk assessment principles.