The Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009

Testing, reduction factors and definition of food types

2.—(1) Where a test is carried out on a plastic material or article intended to come into contact with more than one food or group of foods and a reduction factor is specified for one or more of those foods or groups of foods which is not equivalent to the reduction factor specified for one or more of the other foods or groups of foods with which the plastic material or article is intended to come into contact—

(a) the reduction factor specified for each food or group of foods, as appropriate, shall be applied to the test result; and

(b) the plastic material or article shall be treated as being capable of transferring its constituents to food with which it may come into contact in excess of a migration limit specified in regulation 9 or the Annexes if, following application of those specified reduction factors, one or more of the results show that the material or article does not comply with that specified migration limit.

(2) For the purpose of this paragraph —

(a) a reduction factor is the figure which follows an “X” and oblique stroke in the group of columns headed “Simulants to be used” in the Table to Part 4;

(b) a reduction factor is specified for a food or group of foods where, in the Table to Part 4 —

(i) the food of group of foods is described in the column headed “Description of food”, and

(ii) “X” is placed in a column headed by a specified simulant opposite that food or group of foods followed by an oblique stroke and a reduction factor;

(c) a reduction factor shall be applied to a test result by dividing the result by that reduction factor.