All five ClearTint primaries, the basis for all the company’s ClearTint colours, have been approved under the FDA’s Food Contact Notification programme.
Milliken’s proactive efforts to secure agency approval, undertaken on behalf of customers, will benefit manufacturers of food containers in two important ways. First, customers can avoid the time and cost required to calculate use levels and conditions for non-migration of new ClearTint colourant blends, making it easier to adopt the latest colour trends. Second, these high-end products help ensure safety in broader application areas, such as sippy cups and baby bottles and other repeat-use containers. FDA approval adds an important new benefit to the already compelling ClearTint value proposition.
“Our ClearTint colorants were already compliant with FDA food contact requirements and have now earned agency approval across broad conditions of use, including sterilization in boiling water,” said Melissa Copeland, Milliken global product line manager. “Approval of our primaries will streamline custom colour qualifications and allow customers to quickly address new consumer trends, styles and preferences. Although the Food Contact Notification process was rigorous and time-consuming, Milliken voluntarily completed it to provide added value to our customers.”
The ClearTint primaries were submitted individually to the FDA and subjected to extensive migration testing, purity analysis and toxicity testing. The results showed ClearTint colourants were undetectable at common detection limits in standard migration testing.
The five primaries received Food Contact Notification approval under use conditions B (boiling water sterilized) through H (frozen or refrigerated storage) and J (microwave cooking). The approvals now allow ClearTint colorants to be used in repeat-use articles in contact with infant formula and housewares used for feeding infants.
ClearTint colourants are suited for clarified polypropylene (PP) and high density polyethylene (HDPE), providing exceptional aesthetics and easy, consistent processing. When combined with Milliken’s Millad NX 8000 additive for PP, ClearTint colorants provide unsurpassed brightness and richness of colour while protecting the plastic’s clarity. Compared to traditional pigments, that often cause haze in clear materials and warpage due to nucleation, Milliken’s polymeric colourants offer superior gloss and clarity and are non-nucleating. Further, they will not migrate or extract as traditional dyes can.
Source: Milliken
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