SGS Consumer Testing Services

California has recently approved measures to mandate upholstered furniture manufacturers meeting TB 117-2013 to label their products for the presence of flame retardants. The enforcement date is 1 January 2015.

Everything professionals need to know about the EU chemical requirements.

WHO Europe European Food and Nutrition Action Plan 2015-2020 (1) recommends that the European Union member states “develop and implement national policies to ban or virtually eliminate trans fat from the food supply”.

On 10 September 2014, the EU published Commission Recommendation 2014/661 related to the monitoring of the presence of 2- and 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol, 2-and 3-MCPD fatty acid esters and glycidyl fatty acid esters in feed and food products (1)

A report by the global food source monitoring company Food Sentry ranked ‘excessive or illegal pesticide contamination’ as the number one risk to consumers from the 3,400 verified worldwide instances of food safety violations in 2013 (1).

After 30 years of consolidation and amendment, the EU is implementing the first major revision of its food labeling rules for a generation; EU Regulation 1169/2011 will apply to all food products from 13 December 2014.

France recently extended the restriction of formamide in toy puzzle mats for a further 12 months. The new law takes effect on 15 September 2014

In order to ensure the safety of cosmetic products for human health, the European Commission has adopted REGULATION (EU) No 358/2014 that prohibits the use of 5 parabens and limits the maximum concentrations of Triclosan in cosmetic products.

In August 2011, New York approved the ‘TRIS-Free Children and Babies Act’ to prohibit the use of tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate in childcare products and toys for children under three years of age. The law took effect in December 2013.(1)

On 19 September 2014 the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) released to the public the changes in four of the core Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) rules. (1)