For gloves, the commission regulation (EU) no. 10/2011 of 14 January 2011 on plastic material and articles intended to come into contact with food is normally cited to govern application of gloves on food. The regulation aims to govern manufacture and marketing of plastic materials and related particles that are
1
Intended to come into
contact with food
2
Already in
contact with food
3
Which can reasonably be expected to come into
contact with food
The framework stipulates that materials and articles, including active and intelligent materials and articles, shall be manufactured in compliance with good manufacturing practice so that, under normal or foreseeable conditions of use, they do not transfer their constituents to the food in quantities, which could endanger human health or bring about an unacceptable change in the composition of the food or bring about a deterioration in the organoleptic characteristics.
In order to comply with such requirements, the glove must firstly, manufactured from materials indicated in the union list of authorized substances as mentioned in the regulation and secondly, the gloves must undergo through migration test as stipulated. There are two types of migration test namely overall migration and specific migration.
Overall Migration
The test aims to indicate the inertness or stability of the materials to be contacted with food. It determines the amount of constituents of the plastic articles that has been transferred to the food upon contact. The regulation stipulates that the plastic articles shall not transfer their constituents to food simulants in quantities more than 10 milligrams of total constituents released per dm2 of food contact surface.
Specific migration
Specific migration testing aims to ensure that the transfer of hazardous constituents to the food does not extend beyond the level which would be harmful to human. The specific migration limits for most constituents are stipulated in the regulation. However, a generic specific migration (limit of 60mg/kg) shall be applied to any constituent without specific migration limit as stated in the regulation.
When all prerequisite for food contact are met, the gloves could be marketed as being safe for food contact. The following pictogram will be displayed on the gloves to illustrate its food safety standard.
