Food contact materials recalls and international trade relations: an analysis of the nexus between RASFF notifications and product origin

Nowadays, quality assurance and food safety are necessary objectives for companies that produce and market food. Food contact materials (FCMs) are essential to ensure adequate levels of food safety, involving the entire food supply chain, since they are intended to be in contact with food during production, handling or storage. They are governed by European Union (EU) and national legislation and all serious food safety hazards, including legislation specific to FCMs, are reported via the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF). The aim of this study is to analyze notifications in the RASFF database related to FCMs during the period from 2007 to 2019, testing the significance of the relation between the notified products' origin and other variables (i.e. hazard and type of food contact materials, notification basis, notification type, risk decision) and providing insights to the European trade relations and practices. Additionally, a study on melamine and polyamide-based materials produced in China and introduced into the European market was carried out to evaluate the effects of Commission Regulation (EU) No 284/2011. Our analysis showed a significant association between the origin of the notified products (China, European, non-European) and the other selected categorical variables (hazard category, type of FCMs, notification type, distribution status and risk decision)and an overall positive effect of Commission Regulation (EU) No 284/2011 on the number of notifications of melamine products from China.