Metal dishes, accessories, equipment and devices

 

National legislation

Regulation on Health Suitability of Materials and Articles Intended to Come into Direct Contact with Food

Official Gazette, No. 125/2009 and 31/2011 
 

Act on General Use Good (see Article 49, point 2.)
Official Gazette, No. 39/2013, 47/2014, 114/2018 and 53/2022

 

Competent authority

 

Scope of application

Metal dishes, accessories, equipment and devices which come into contact with food

 

Main requirements that the business user needs to know about

Article 16

Metal dishes, accessories, equipment and devices must not be made from lead, zinc or alloys which contain more than 1% lead, 0.03% arsenic, more than 0.1% cadmium and they must not be covered with tin (galvanized), cadmium or lead coating or coatings made from their alloys.

Aluminium alloys may be used to produce metal dishes and accessories, and equipment and devices provided that they meet the requirements of European standards for aluminium alloys.

Parts of metal dishes, accessories, equipment and devices which do not come into direct contact with food may be made using alloys which contain no more than 10% lead, provided that these parts are fully covered with metal or enamel coatings which do not contain ingredients which have adverse effect on health. 

Article 17

Finished products from Article 16 of this Regulation must not, when left standing for 1 to 24 hours at a temperature from 23°C i.e. 100°C in direct contact with distilled water or appropriate model solution, release more than 0.6 mg/L lead, 0.05 mg/L cadmium, 0.01 mg/L arsenic, 50.0 mg/L zinc, 0.1 mg/L chrome or more than 0.1 mg/L nickel, all depending on the intended use and manner of use, and unless prescribed otherwise by this Regulation. 

Article 18

Trade and use of dishes, accessories, equipment and devices made from copper or copper alloys intended for liquid or mashed food is prohibited, unless the interior surface which comes into direct contact with the aforementioned food is fully coated with safe for health protective coating (for example from tin).

Prohibition from paragraph 1 of this article does not pertain to dishes and accessories intended for making coffee provided they have been correctly tin-plated or to copper cauldrons intended for making schnapps if the copper used to make them is at least 99.95% pure.

Article 19

Copper and zinc must not be used for making flatware or utensils for food preparation and serving, unless in alloys used to make such flatware and utensils (new silver - Alpaca etc.)

Flatware and utensils for food preparation and serving must be made so that they not have sharp edges (except for the knife blades and fork tips) and all surfaces, except for the surfaces between fork tines, must be completely smooth i.e. polished.

Finish of the dishes, accessories, equipment and devices for preparation i.e. serving of meals, made from stainless steel which come into contact must ensure chemical resistance in use. These surfaces, except in knifes, must not change due to the action of acetic acid, 4% (v/v) during 24 hours at the temperature of 20 ± 2°C if the finished product are used at low temperatures, nor during 30 minutes at the temperature of 100°C if the finished product is used for heat treatment of food.

Chemical resistance of knifes from paragraph 3 of this Article is verified in a special apparatus which must ensure that the blade of the knife is immersed 2-3 times per minute in 2% sodium chloride solution at a temperature of 60°C ± 2°C over the course of 6 hours. Volume of the solution must be at least 1 L/dm² of the stainless-steel area. After washing and rinsing of the blade, corrosion that has appeared is inspected with a magnifying glass.

Specific migration of chrome, nickel and manganese in products from paragraph 3 is determined in another extract (two consecutive cooking) and for each metal it must be greater 0.1 mg/L.

Article 20

Metal fittings used for drinking water are tested for lead, copper, chrome and nickel content, where the determined values must not exceed values set out by the regulation which governs health safety of the drinking water. Testing is carried out on a specially constructed device which can replicate real use conditions (for example conditions in a water supply network). Two samples (S1 and S2) are tested by being (standing) in direct contact with the drinking water for a minimum of 2 hours and a maximum of 4 hours compared to sample S0. Sample S0 represents a blind sample, sample S1 shows the effect of home installations and fittings for taking of the sample while sample 2 shows the effect of the home installation. When calculating the results, actual standing time should be taken into account compared to the maximum prescribed period of 4 hours. Lead, nickel and chrome concentrations are determined in all three samples.

Metal pipes and parts of the drinking water distribution system must not by being in direct contact with the water release metals in quantities greater than those prescribed by the regulations which sets out the health safety of the drinking water. Testing is performed by standing in direct contact with the drinking water during 4 hours at the temperature of 20 ± 2°C, or at elevated temperature, depending on the manner of use.

For articles from paragraph 2 of this article, depending on the type of metal and/or type of material from which the contact surface is made, it is necessary to perform additional testing in the extract, all in accordance with the provision of paragraph 1 of this article.

Metal containers for storage and transport of drinking water are tested, depending on the type of metal and/or type of material from which the contact surface is made, in accordance with the regulations set out by this Regulation for that type of material.

Article 21

If there is a possibility that corrosion will occur on the surfaces when using the metal dishes, accessories, equipment and devices, then these surfaces must be protected by health safe organic protective coatings or metal coatings (for example chrome coatings).

Protective coatings from paragraph 1 of this article must uniformly cover the surface which comes into direct contact with the food and they must be free from bubbles, raised areas and cracks.

On products from paragraph 1 of this article, regardless of whether they are protected by coatings or not, visible corrosion must not occur due to standing in acetic acid, 3% (v/v) for one hour at the temperature of 23°C, i.e. at the temperature of 100°C, depending on the intended use of the finished products.

Provision from paragraph 1 of this Article does not pertain only to metal dishes, accessories, equipment and devices for roasting (grills, spits, coffee roasters etc.).

Organic protective coatings from paragraph 1 of this article must be made in the form of a coating from thermally stable polymer materials (for example “Teflon”) provided that they meet the requirements from Article 32 and Article 44 of this Regulation.

Article 22

Metal dishes, accessories, equipment and devices must be soldered using lead-free solder and 97% tin which does not contain more than 0.03% of arsenic, more than 0.005% zinc, more than 0.08% copper, more than 0.05% antimony, or more than 0.01% of lead.

Article 23

Parts of the dishes, accessories and devices for cutting (which includes circular meat saws, meat choppers, bone saws and little axes, and also applies to meat bats) mincing of food must not be made from zinc, cadmium, lead or their allows.

 

Market Surveillance Authority

State Inspectorate

pisarnica.dirh@dirh.hr

 

Link to the TRIS database

In the TRIS database you can look up the notification of the technical rule