The general requirements of migration test are stipulated in GB 31604.1-2015 General Rules for Migration Test of Food Contact Materials and Articles (CN version free download) which was released on October 30th, 2015 on NHFPC website and will come into force on September 22th, 2016.
Migration Test: Under regulation condition, the test carried out for the content determination of components in the food contact materials and articles that migrate to the contacted food or food simulants.
In order to conduct the migration test successfully, the significant step is the selection of food simulant and test condition. The detailed guidance is as follows:
Selection of Food Simulants for Migration Test
Note: The specific migration amount in the food will be tested directly (not necessary to choose food simulants) if the materials or articles that have been in contact with food. If the food contact materials and articles that have been in contact with food but without determination method or there is no test technique to perform the specific migration test in food, or specific migration test for materials and articles that have not yet been in contact with food, food simulant shall be chosen as follows:
Migration Test: Under regulation condition, the test carried out for the content determination of components in the food contact materials and articles that migrate to the contacted food or food simulants.
In order to conduct the migration test successfully, the significant step is the selection of food simulant and test condition. The detailed guidance is as follows:
Selection of Food Simulants for Migration Test
Note: The specific migration amount in the food will be tested directly (not necessary to choose food simulants) if the materials or articles that have been in contact with food. If the food contact materials and articles that have been in contact with food but without determination method or there is no test technique to perform the specific migration test in food, or specific migration test for materials and articles that have not yet been in contact with food, food simulant shall be chosen as follows:
| Expected Contacted Food | Food Simulants |
| Specific food (eg. Apple juice, Milk, Cheese and etc.) | The corresponding food simulant shall be selected according to Table A.1 Food Category and Selection of its Corresponding Food Simulant of Appendix A in GB 31604.1-2015 |
| One category of food (eg. Acidic foods, Grease foods and etc. ) | The corresponding food simulants shall be selected according to Table 1 Food Category and Food Simulant in GB 31604.1-2015. |
| Various categories of food (eg. all food categories) (only applicable to Overall Migration Test) |
The corresponding food simulant shall be selected according to Table 2 Food Simulants Expected to Contact with Various Categories of Foods (only for the determination of overall migration) in GB 31604.1-2015 |
Selection of Test Conditions for Migration Test
| Migration Test | Disposable Food Contact Materials and Articles | Repeatedly Used Food Contact Materials and Articles |
| Specific Migration Test | The migration test condition (time) shall be selected according to Table 3 Specific Migration Test Conditions (time) in GB 31604.1-2015 | |
| The migration test condition (temperature) shall be selected according to Table 4 Specific Migration Test Conditions (temperature) in GB 31604.1-2015 | ||
| For food contact materials and articles which will experience two or more using conditions, the migration test time and temperature from Table 3 and Table 4 shall be selected based on the using condition order, or a combination of the most extreme time and temperature with supporting scientific evidence could be selected. Then using the same sample to conduct the migration test. | ||
| Migration test for food contact materials and articles which could be used in microwave oven, for grease food simulants, 130℃ and 15 min should be selected. For aqueous food simulant, 100℃ and 15min should be selected. | ||
| For storage for more than 30 days at room temperature or below room temperature, the migration test conditions could be chosen according to Table 5 The Conditions for Specific Migration Heating to Speed up Test in GB 31604.1-2015. | ||
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The migration test shall be performed for three times for the same tested sample by using a new food simulant for each time, the compliance judgment is performed based on the result of the third migration test. If there is evidence proved that the content of migration in the first migration test does not exceed the migration limit and the content of migration will not increase in the second, and the third migration tests, there is no need to conduct multiple migration tests. |
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| — | For food contact substances of which the specific migration limit is not detected, the compliance judgment is performed based on the result of the first migration test. | |
| Overall Migration Test | The migration test condition (time and temperature) shall be selected according to Table 6 Overall Migration Test Conditions in GB 31604.1-2015. | |
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If the Table 6 is not applicable to the overall migration test for certain materials or articles, the most stringent test conditions supported by a scientific evidence should be chosen and the stipulated test conditions in corresponding National food safety standard shall be referred. |
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The migration test shall be performed for three times for the same tested sample by using a new food simulant for each time, the compliance judgment is performed based on the result of the third migration test. If there is evidence proved that the content of migration in the first migration test does not exceed the migration limit and the content of migration will not increase in the second, and the third migration tests, there is no need to conduct multiple migration tests. |
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With the goal of reflecting the actual possible using conditions when performing the migration test, the selection of food simulant and test conditions will be more scientific and realistic.
Contact us:
Ms. Cathy Yu Team Leader of Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs Department, CIRS China
11F Dongguan Building, 288 Qiuyi Road, Binjiang District, Hangzhou, China, 310020
Tel : +86 571 8720 6538 | Fax : +86 571 8720 6533
Email: cathy.yu@cirs-group.com
