Some of our competitors claim that their folder-gluer belts are certified according to EU and FDA requirements for direct food contact. This statement pretends that our competitors belts are officially certified. However, there is no official FDA or EC1935/2004 certification for food contact articles. A declaration of conformity is a self declaration.

The regulatory situation confirms that folder-gluer belts without direct food contact do not need to comply  with any food contact regulations:

• Equipment used to manufacture food contact materials is not required to comply itself with food contact requirements
• The transfer of any constituents of the belt material to the packaging material is negligible because of the fast manufacturing process of packaging materials and therefore the very short contact time between belt and packaging material 
• That means, even cardboard boxes with direct food contact (e.g. for Pasta), would not transfer belt constituents to the food in a quantity which could endanger human health.
• Usually cardboard and boxes are not manufactured in a food conform environment 
• Box making machines are not manufactured in line with regulations for machines with direct food contact  
• Empty cardboard boxes are not transported under food conform conditions (e.g by truck) 
• The above may be also valid for cardboard boxes complying with food contact requirements for paper and board. Cardboard boxes with inner bag are not even required to meet food contact requirements.

Conclusion: Compliance of folder-gluer belts with food contact regulations does not add safety to the packaged food and any such hint is misleading.