Safety Manual on Food Contact Materials (FCMs) in Cookers was jointly released by Cooker Committee of China Household Electrical Appliances Association (CHEAA) and 15 enterprises including Haier, Midea, Panasonic, Philips, Joyoung, Galanz and Supor, on April 20, 2017. As the first safety manual on FCMs in home appliances, it embodies the dedication of CHEAA’s Cooker Committee and demonstrates enterprises’ responsibility to consumers and the industry. It is expected to propel China’s cooker quality to a higher level.
Materials and processing techniques both have their influences on food safety. Starting with an analysis on commonly used FCMs in cookers and their safety risks, the manual goes through food safety management systems, supporting laws and regulations, and technical standards in China, Japan, the US, the EU and more countries and regions. And based on China’s newly released GB 4806 series of national standards and their supporting standards, it sets out requirements on related quality systems.
The manual puts in place new national standards with detailed requirements, signaling the positive attitude of cooker industry to new national standards. New national standards on FCMs have been released. Several have kicked off in September 2016; two fundamental standards will come into force in October 2017 while the rest of standards in March or April of 2017.
Wang Lei, Vice President of CHEAA, points out that, “The manual is developed to guide the management of FCMs in cooker industry, and make sure zero food safety risk exists in a cooker. Introducing this manual at this particular time shows enterprises’ solid faith in industrial upgrading, and Cooker Committee’s active responses to national standards. ”