STRESZCZENIE
ABSTRACT
Materials and articles intended for contact with food must comply with the requirements set in the Regulation EC No 1935/2007. According to article 3 of this Regulation in normal conditions of use they could not transfer their components into food in the amounts which could endanger human health, cause unacceptable changes in the composition of food or cause a deterioration in the organoleptic characteristics. The Regulation EC No 178/2002 related to the food law provides the legal basis for the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF). RASFF, besides food and feed, deals with materials and articles intended to contact with food. The structure of RASFF system in the EU is functioning as a network of the official contact points in the Member States. In Poland the General Sanitary Inspectorate as a national contact point coordinates the activity of RASFF system. The products, which do not comply with the specific regulation and on the base of the risk assessment can pose the hazard to human health, are notified to this system. The notifications are classified as: alert notification, information notification and news. The notifications are published as weekly and annual reports. The majority of notifications in 2002-2006 concerned non-compliance of food contact articles with the allowed limits of overall and specific migration of the following substances: primary aromatic amines (PAA), formaldehyde, plasticizers, semicarbazide, isoprophylthioxanthone and metals. The number of notifications systematically grows up from 5 notifications in 2002 to 189 notifications in 2006. Majority of notified articles were made in China. Including of food contact materials into RASFF system allows for rapid withdrawal of non-complying products from the market.