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.