China finalized several standards for food packaging in November 2016, with the new and/or updated standards coming into effect in 2017.
Monolayer PET bottles
The updated GB 9685 standard now incorporates more than 340 approvals that have been reviewed since the issue of the previous version, Standard (GB 9685-2008).
Azam Khan, ColorMatrix senior product manager, ColorMatrix, told DairyReporter, it is delighted Lactra SX is the first Light Blocking Additive for monolayer PET bottles for long shelf life dairy products to have all its constituents compliant to the newly introduced Chinese standards for food contact.
“This means our materials are in line with the relevant specifications as per testing conducted at the China Packaging Research & Test Center, which enables us to help brand owners and convertors in the Asia-Pacific region achieve 99.9% light blocking for their UHT dairy products,” he said.
The addition of Lactra SX additive to PET bottles extends the shelf life of light-sensitive dairy products such as Ultra High Temperature (UHT) milk by providing 99.9% light blocking to protect the liquid dairy contents.
Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America
“The larger markets for this type of application are in Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Latin America. It is therefore essential that food approval be granted for the additive to be utilized by major dairy brands in global markets, but especially those three regions,” added Khan.
Food contact materials include packaging materials, cutlery, processing machines, and containers.
In China, food contact materials (FCMs) are regulated by the China Food Safety Law. Issued in 2009, it sets hygienic standards for specific materials and their finished products, and corresponding testing standards, in addition to GB 9685 for food contact additives.
The new standard is GB 4806.6-2016 Food-contact Use Plastic Resins and GB 9685-2016 Uses of Additives in Food Containers and Packaging Materials.