BfR List MFC for Food Contact Use
MFC Produced using FiberLean Grinders Now Included in BfR Recommendations for Food Contact Materials
FiberLean is proud to announce that the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) has updated its Recommendations on Materials for Food Contact to include MFC (microfibrillated cellulose) produced using FiberLean Grinders.
This important update is the result of extensive collaborative work over several years by FiberLean, Vireo Advisors and the Alliance for Food Safety Acceptance of Fibrillated and Crystalline Celluloses (AFSAC) with support from P3Nano. It marks a significant milestone in the recognition of MFC as a safe and effective material for use in food contact applications.
The revised listing now extends clearance to use of MFC in food contact paper and board where the MFC content of the board can be up 100% by weight or where a coating layer of up to 100% MFC is in contact with food. Specifically, MFC produced using our grinders is now listed for use in:
- Paper and board for food contact (BfR Recommendation XXXVI)
- Cooking papers, hot filter papers, and filter layers (XXXVI/1)
- Paper and paperboard for baking purposes (XXXVI/2)
- Absorber pads based on cellulosic fibres for food packaging (XXXVI/3)
- Polymer dispersions (Recommendation XIV)
The listing includes the following specification, which FiberLean MFC meets:
“Microfibrillated Cellulose formed by mechanical treatment of cellulose pulp with or without a mineral according to section A.II (Fillers) of the BfR-Recommendation XXXVI. The fiber content of the ground mixture is 80–100% by weight. The amount of the finest fraction after centrifugation must not exceed 10%. The mean fibril diameter by number is >20 nm. Enzymes are not allowed to be used in the manufacturing process.”
This recognition reinforces FiberLean’s commitment to innovation and safety in sustainable materials for food packaging and beyond.
The listings can be downloaded here.