Food Contact Materials for the EU Market

Dear all,

My company exports dry noodles to the EU market. In the noodle bowl, there is a biodegradable CPLA fork also which is placed on top of the noodle. I wish to know whether any EU legislation says if this fork must be wrapped into a plastic before placed on top of the noodle?

many thanks,

Shakti

The EU regulations aren't that specific - they leave it somewhat up to you to decide how you ensure you are compliant with them.

Given that the fork is presumably intended to be used for eating the noodles, you've presumably already confirmed that it complies with EU requirements for food-contact materials, and that it is sufficiently (microbiologically) clean to be able to sit in direct contact with your food product?

You are in a complicated area irrespective of whether your product or film is suitable for food contact..

The CPLA fork is still defined as plastic in the EU and comes within the remit of the Single Use Plastic Directive unless you can prove that it is for repeated use.

CPLA is not biodegradable (there is no clear definition of this word anyway), it can be compostable in some circumstances.

Most companies have moved to wood, and if your product is wet and has any extended life, you will almost certainly need to wrap a wooden fork in film.

You need specialist advice on this.

Hello, I agree with the above answer: most are moving to wood utensils

best regards,

Leila