Searching for light pleasure reading? The U.S. Food and Drug Administration food contact safety regulations and the EU plastic directive don't qualify.
A single example from one of the FDA's 21 CFR chapters illustrates why: "...polyester epoxy urethane adhesives formulated from the following: a) polyester resin formed by the reaction of polybasic acids and polyhydric alcohols listed in section 175.300 (b) (3) (viii) (a) of this chapter. Azelaic acid may also be used as a polybasic acid...."
Yet such regulations are critical for ensuring the safety of the food we all eat, and ergo, for companies converting and utilizing multi-layer structures for food packaging. They are particularly crucial in increasingly popular hot fill and retort applications. Inappropriate food contact risks harm to food supplies and the public. It also may unleash lasting public censure of unacceptable food contact, principally for consumer products companies: witness the recent furor in Italy when a printing ink affected baby formula.