According to EU Regulation 1935/2004, packaging must not harm human health or affect its contents by causing significant changes.

Packaging requirements are constantly changing and growing. Changes in lifestyle and household size mean that consumers want more variety in packaging sizes and new features. Other players in the food chain, such as manufacturers and processors, demand, among other things, higher quality printed materials for packaging. In addition, packaging is expected to be more environmentally friendly and easily recyclable or reusable. As requirements increase, packaging must be continuously improved, and its development must be increasingly linked to product development.

Chemicals often migrate from food contact materials into the food itself as a result of chemical migration. In packaging made from various raw materials, chemical migration is usually only observed in the inner layer. Not all chemical compounds that migrate from packaging materials into food products have been fully studied, or the information collected about them is not complete enough to draw reliable conclusions.

The type and amount of substances migrating from packaging into food products are influenced by many different characteristics, such as storage time, temperature, and product quality and composition. Some of the migrating chemicals are associated with known pathogens, making the packaging potentially hazardous to health.

Restrictions must be placed on packaging materials to ensure that the contents of food packaging remain safe at all times. According to EU Regulation 1935/2004, packaging must not harm human health or affect its contents by causing significant changes. Therefore, when packaging food products, it is extremely important to have a thorough knowledge of the product to be packaged and the packaging material used, as well as its properties, so that the packaging remains safe throughout its intended life.

All surfaces of equipment that come into contact with food, cosmetic or pharmaceutical products, with the exception of disposable items, must:

·         be smooth and free of roughness or gaps where organic matter can accumulate. The same requirement must be met for joints between surfaces;

·         be designed and manufactured in such a way as to minimise protrusions, edges and corners;

·         be easy to clean and disinfect when necessary after removing easily removable parts;

·         internal corners must be connected by radii that allow thorough cleaning;