Food contact suitability

Migration and compliance assessments of food-contact materials: from manufacturing to end use

At Lifeanalytics, the Product Safety Business Unit operates in the field of materials and articles intended to come into contact with food. We perform a wide range of tests to evaluate packaging-food interactions in their broadest sense, including production processes (e.g., food processing equipment) and other items, tools, or utensils that may come into contact with food.

To ensure food contact suitability, we offer analytical services to verify material compliance with national and international regulations specific to food contact across various matrices, including paper, cardboard, and polymeric materials such as plastics, multilayer structures, inks, and adhesives.

Our services include global and/or specific migration testing, as well as the analysis of colorant migration, metals, PFAS, amines, bisphenols, phthalates, and more, on a wide range of materials (paper and cardboard, multilayers, plastics, inks, adhesives, rubber and elastomers, silicones, stainless steel and metals, glass, etc.).

We perform analysis on paper and cardboard in accordance with the standardized EN 1186 methods for plastic materials (EU Regulation 10/2011), as well as in compliance with the Italian Ministerial Decree of 21/03/1973 for multi-material multilayer systems with a plastic food-contact layer. We also test stainless steel, rubber and elastomers, silicones, and glass, following the framework Regulation EC 1935/2004 and specific regulations applicable to each material type.

We also analyze materials not yet specifically regulated, such as wood, marble, ferrous alloys, copper and its alloys, and other metals and alloys.

Focus on Paper and Cardboard

With deep expertise developed in paper and cardboard articles, Lifeanalytics has expanded its knowledge across all materials intended for food contact. We conduct a wide range of tests that explore every aspect of the relationship between paper/cardboard packaging and food.

Our testing services include:

• Assessment of paper suitability for human skin contact based on BfR Sanitary Paper guidelines
• Compliance testing for food contact applications
• Determination of specific substances (e.g., diisopropylnaphthalenes, phthalates, photoinitiators, primary aromatic amines, formaldehyde, etc.)
• Detection of toxic and harmful substances
• Colorfastness testing
• Technological suitability tests
• Organoleptic tests
• Disintegration (repulpability) tests
• Verification of physical properties
• Compliance with compositional requirements (DM 21/03/1973)
• Purity requirements verification