​Compliance Courier: Norway publishes key contaminants that should be monitored in food and food contact materials.

In June 2022, the Norwegian Scientific Council for Food and the Environment (VKM) released a report giving guidance on how the country can monitor exposure to potentially dangerous chemicals in food. The report provides additional information on the batch of substances of concern first published by VKM in 2019 and supplementary recommendations on sampling procedures and sample sizes that the Norwegian Food Safety Authority should adopt to accurately assess chemical exposures and regulatory compliance in Norway. Some contaminants from food processing equipment and food packaging are classified as essential pollutants to be monitored by VKM.

Back in 2019, VKM combined Norwegian dietary surveys with information on the health hazards of food contaminants to create a list of substances most in need of monitoring. VKM believes that in the food consumed by people, the key substances that need to be monitored most are acrylamide (CAS 79-06-1), 3-chloro-1, 2-propylene glycol (CAS 96-24-2) and its fatty acid esters, glycan fatty acid esters, furans, heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAA) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Substances of concern in food packaging include bisphenol-A and melamine. The amount of bisphenol A and melamine in food depends on the type of material used and how it was exposed. Factors such as temperature and pH may affect the migration of BPA and melamine from contact materials to food.

A result presented at the last meeting of the European Union's Human Biomonitory program (HBM4EU) in April 2022 showed that levels of bisphenol A (BPA, CAS 80-05-7) were detectable in all adults in Europe. Half of these individuals were also exposed to BPA substitutes BPS (CAS 5397-34-2) and/or BPF (CAS 620-92-8).

The Food Contact Materials team at Rieux has already reviewed the United States Food Contact Materials Regulation (FDA 21CFR/FCN), the European Union Food Contact Materials Regulation ((EU) No. 10/2011, (EC) No.1935/2004), Chinese Regulations on Food Contact Materials (GB9685, GB4806 series), German BfR, Canadian LONO, Mercosur GMC No.39/19), Swiss Regulations on Food Contact Materials (SR 817.023.21) has conducted in-depth research on relevant regulations, and has rich project experience, which can provide enterprises with compliance services such as new substance declaration, declaration of compliance (DoC) and substance inquiry in the above countries and regions.