Report of an inter-laboratory comparison from the European Union Reference Laboratory for Food Contact Materials : ILC01 2015 : temperature control during migration tests by article filling

This report presents the results of an inter-laboratory comparison (ILC) on the temperature control during migration tests by article filling organised by the EURL-FCM, Ispra (Italy). Participants carried out a migration test by article filling in provided polypropylene cups (volume 0.3 L) with food simulant D1 (ethanol 50 %, v/v) at 70°C for 2 h and monitored the temperature of the food simulant inside one of the test specimen during the contact phase and provide details for the operating procedure. The participation to the ILC was satisfactory. The results show that 30% of the 53 migration experiments performed by the 45 laboratories were successful (scoring 100%) meaning that the temperature of the food simulant was in the desired range during the full contact time. It is clear that this result will trigger further discussion to improve the temperature control during a migration test. The information provided by the laboratories through the questionnaire gives a first insight in the factors that can be important to reach a satisfactory score. This discussion should lead to the selection of one or more methods for temperature control during migration testing. These selected methods need to be compared in a future ILC.