Food Contact Guideline

The main purpose of the ESG Food Contact Guideline is to propose a structured way to handle food contact legislation as a support to the paper sack manufacturer. It should be emphasised though that food contact legislation is very complex and should be handled by a knowledgeable person in the company.

The scope is limited to legislations and recommendations covering the safety of food contact materials and articles. Legislation dealing with environmental matters, such as the REACH regulation (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) are not within the scope of this guideline. Furthermore, the guideline covers legislations and recommendations in place on the European market.

The objective is to make the sack producer understand his responsibilities in relation to different regulations. The guideline shows how and when these different regulations are needed to be met depending on the composition of the paper sack, type of food product, temperatures and time during storage, input materials, etc. It clarifies who is responsible for what and when in the “lifetime” of a paper sack, from production of input materials to emptying of the food product contained within the paper sack.

The guideline also transfers some learnings about existing regulations and directives and shows where these can be found in their full extent.

The Food Contact Guideline is available in English, French, German and Italian.

ESG Food Contact Guideline, 3rd edition (updated October 2020)

ESG Guide du contact alimentaire, 3ème édition (Octobre 2020)

ESG Leitfaden für den Lebensmittelkontakt, 3. Auflage (Oktober 2020)

ESG Food Contact Guideline (Italian), 3a edizione (Ottobre 2020)