Migration testing

The safety of food in plastic packaging is one of the most important concerns of consumers and authorities, to say nothing of manufacturers, packagers, distributors and developers of new products and materials.

Plastic materials, due to its characteristics, can undergo interaction phenomena with both the food and surrounding environment. One of these phenomena is migration. Migration is the process by which the substances contained in the plastic material can pass into the packaged food.

Overall and specific migration

Commission Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food

In Europe, Commission Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food establishes migration limits that specify the maximum permitted amount of a substance released into food.

Checking compliance with overall migration limit involves verifying material inertness, whereas compliance with specific migration limits is monitored to rule out toxicity problems associated with specific substances.

Based on the food item, the conditions of use, and contact time and temperature, plastic food packaging materials must be assessed in terms of their migration.

For companies with a wide range of products, attempting to perform migration tests on each one and for each use represents a huge undertaking. The key to optimizing resources is grouping test samples and conditions, as well as testing only the most restrictive requirements. Careful planning of the testing process helps save time and money for everybody and also prevents future problems.

At AIMPLAS, we not only perform migration tests, but also provide manufacturers of materials and items for food contact with personalized advice, which includes:

  • Review of declarations of compliance to determine the tests required to demonstrate compliance with legislation and optimize them.
  • Interpretation of results.
  • Answering legislation-related technical queries.
Ensayos de migración

Accredited tests

AIMPLAS is accredited by ENAC with accreditation No. 56/LE156 in accordance with standard UNE-EN ISO/IEC 17025 for the following tests:

  • Overall migration into aqueuos simulants and alternative oil simulants (iso-octane y ethanol 95%).
    UNE-EN 1186-1, UNE-EN 1186-3, UNE-EN 1186-5, UNE-EN 1186-9, UNE-EN 1186-14. Commission Regulation (EU) Nº 10/2011 of 14 January 2011 on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food.
  • Overall migration into vegetable oil.
    UNE-EN 1186-2, UNE-EN 1186-4, UNE-EN 1186-8. Commission Regulation (EU) Nº 10/2011 of 14 January 2011 on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food.
Ensayos acreditados migración

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Raquel Requena

Food Contact & Packaging

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How can we help you?

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Raquel Requena

Food Contact & Packaging