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Food Science & Technology vocabulary · Packaging and Labeling

Food contact material

Meaning in food science & technology, with examples

nounCommon term

In food science & technology, food contact material means: Any material that touches food during production, storage, packaging or serving, such as packaging, conveyor belts, gloves, tanks and kitchen tools.

In Turkish: gıdayla temas eden madde ve malzemeler, gıda temas malzemesi

How it is used

Often shortened to FCM. These materials must not transfer harmful substances to food or change its taste or smell. In the EU and Turkey suppliers issue a declaration of compliance, and products may show the glass-and-fork symbol. Plastic FCMs have specific migration rules. People also call suitable materials 'food-grade'.

Example sentences

  1. Every supplier of food contact material must send us a declaration of compliance.

  2. The blue gloves are not approved as a food contact material, so they cannot be used on the line.

Common collocations

  • food-grade
  • declaration of compliance
  • glass-and-fork symbol
  • food contact surface
  • FCM regulation
  • migrationThe transfer of substances from packaging or other food contact materials into the food, for example plasticizers, monomers or components of printing ink.
  • packagingThe materials and containers that hold and protect a food product, and also the process of putting the product into them.
  • contaminationThe presence or entry of something harmful or unwanted in food, such as microorganisms, chemicals, allergens or pieces of glass, metal or plastic.
  • specificationA document that sets out the agreed requirements for a raw material, packaging or product, such as composition, chemical and microbiological limits, appearance and packing.

More terms: Packaging and Labeling

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