In 2025, the European Reference Laboratory for Food Contact Materials (EURL-FCM) published a new edition of the report 'Testing conditions for kitchenware articles in contact with foodstuffs – The EURL-FCM harmonised approach series' (JRC144375). This document was drawn up in collaboration with the national reference laboratories (NRLs) and establishes harmonised test conditions to enhance the comparability of measurement results within the official controls, within the framework of Regulation (EU) 2017/625.
Among other things, the technical guideline specifies the contact temperatures and times that must be applied when testing kitchen items that come into contact with food. The specified test conditions apply to items for domestic use and can serve as a starting point for determining test conditions for industrial applications, where other parameters may be appropriate.
The document contains a number of appendices, with the first appendix classifying food contact materials independently of material type into main groups and subgroups based on their expected use. Appendices 2 to 5 set out the relevant test conditions for these groups for each type of material.
This fifth edition replaces the previous guidelines from 2009 and the previous editions of the report (2019–2023). The report was published by the Publications Office of the European Union under reference JRC144375 (2025).
IBE-BVI members advantage:
IBE-BVI members can obtain a copy of this new JRC report upon simple request.
