QUADRANT LAUNCHES BROADEST RANGE OF EU 10/2011 COMPLIANT STOCK SHAPES FOR FOOD INDUSTRY

Quadrant Engineering Plastic Products (EPP) has updated its range of Food Grade Plastics in line with the new European Union Regulation (EU) 10/2011. The move makes Quadrant EPP the first and only engineering plastics´ manufacturer to offer such a broad and fully-tested range of thermoplastic stock shapes complying with the regulation.

The portfolio of certified materials, covering PE through to PEEK, gives food producers the assurance of fulfilling the highest safety and quality levels for their food and beverage production systems. New Regulation (EU) 10/2011 is a further development of Directive 2002/72/EC for plastics materials in contact with food, and specifies much stricter test conditions for migration. Within the EU, compliance is required for all food contact materials.

All Quadrant EPP Food Grade semi-finished stock shapes and customized finished parts are processed and handled according to the new regulation and to the consistent quality control guidelines of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). Quadrant EPP accompanies each delivery with complete documentation, from choice of raw material to finished parts. This allows full traceability and also supports customers in reducing their own in-house product testing time and costs.

Customers receive a Declaration of compliance with the order (DCO) according to EN 10204-2.1 that ensures the uninterrupted traceability of the plastic product from the stock shape back to the raw material used by batch. Each production step is tested and documented by Quadrant EPP.

Quadrant is also ahead of the market in introducing a Declaration of Compliance (DoC) for every delivery – a documentation requirement valid as of 2016 – that includes the complete test conditions together with the migration values of the materials.

Tests to determine the migration values of Quadrant EPP’s food contact polymer materials were conducted on the thermoplastic stock shapes by independent external laboratory Intertek. These tests were performed according to regulation (EU) 10/2011. The portfolio of over 30 products was tested per Overall Migration Limit (OML) and Specific Migration Limit (SML) to measure the material inertness and provide a toxicological evaluation of individual substances. By including the pre-tested results with the DoC, customers can more easily calculate migration values for their individual applications – a further step in supporting their overall cost-efficiency.

As part of its complete Food Grade Program, customers can benefit from Quadrant’s international partner network to select the right material for their application. The material selection and application advice considers the food type in contact with the plastic parts, and temperature and food contact time.

“Quadrant is constantly developing innovative production and application solutions to help customers improve their production performance,” comments Ulf Barth, Market Segment Manager Food Processing Industry, Quadrant EPP Europe. “The Quadrant Food Grade Program offers the food market the widest selection of engineering plastic stock shapes and design possibilities. Materials certified to the highest safety level, migration calculation support, and application selection recommendations, assist our customers in reaching the best possible cost-performance ratio for their individual system.”

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