Lactra SX dairy light blocking additive from PolyOne first to comply with new GB Chinese Food standards
PolyOne announced that all constituents of its light blocking additive for dairy products, ColorMatrix Lactra SX, have been rated as compliant with newly introduced Chinese Food Approval standards (GB) as tested by China Packaging Research & Test Center.
The addition of Lactra SX additive to PET bottles extends the shelf life of light-sensitive dairy products such as Ultra High Temperature (UHT) milk by providing 99.9% light blocking to protect the liquid dairy contents. The larger markets for this type of application are in Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Latin America. It is therefore essential that food approval be granted in order for the additive to be utilised by major dairy brands in global markets, but especially those three regions.
Food contact materials include packaging materials, cutlery, processing machines, and containers. In China, food contact materials (FCMs) are regulated by the China Food Safety Law. Issued in 2009, it sets hygienic standards for specific materials and their finished products, and corresponding testing standards, in addition to GB 9685 for food contact additives. In November 2016, China finalised several standards for food packaging, with the new and/or updated standards coming into effect in 2017. The updated GB 9685 standard now incorporates more than 340 new approvals that have been reviewed since the issuance of the prior version of the Standard (GB 9685-2008).
Azam Khan, ColorMatrix senior product manager at ColorMatrix, commented “We are excited that Lactra SX is the first light blocking additive for monolayer PET bottles for long shelf life dairy products to have all its constituents compliant to the newly introduced Chinese standards for food contact. Essentially, this means our materials are in line with the relevant specifications as per testing conducted at the China Packaging Research & Test Center, which enables us without delay to help brand owners and convertors in the Asia-Pacific region achieve 99.9% light blocking for their UHT dairy products.”
