The Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations 1998

PART I Basic Rules

1.  Subject to paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of this Part of this Schedule, migration tests for the determination of specific and overall migration shall be carried out using the food simulants specified in Parts II, III and, where appropriate, IV of this Schedule and under conventional migration test conditions as specified in Part V of this Schedule.

2.  Subject to paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Part of this Schedule, substitute tests which use test media under the conventional substitute test conditions as specified in Part VI of this Schedule shall be carried out if the migration test using the fatty food simulants specified in Part III of this Schedule is not feasible for technical reasons connected with the method of analysis.

3.  Subject to paragraph 4 of this Part of this Schedule, alternative tests as specified in Part VII of this Schedule may be used instead of the migration test with fatty food simulants specified in Part III of this Schedule but the results of such alternative tests may not be used to determine compliance with a migration limit unless the conditions specified in Part VII of this Schedule are fulfilled.

4. In migration testing it is permissible to—

(a) reduce the number of tests to be carried out to that or those which, in the specific case under examination, is or are generally recognised to be the most severe on the basis of scientific evidence;

(b) omit the migration, the substitute or the alternative tests where there is conclusive proof that the migration limits cannot be exceeded in any foreseeable conditions of use of the material or article.