STAINLESS STEEL IN COSMETIC PACKAGING: HOW TO ENSURE ITS SAFETY AND COMPLIANCE WITH EUROPEAN LEGISLATION

Stainless steel is an important material for cosmetic packaging, due to its properties such as corrosion resistance and surface inertness. It has a long history of safe use in packaging applications. The European regulation on cosmetics contains no clear rules concerning the assessment of stainless steel for use in cosmetic packaging. The different European member states have a wide range of approaches, making navigating through the different legislation in Europe difficult. This article presents a proprietary risk management approach named Material Regulatory Risk Management (M2RM), a new decision-making process for verification or demonstration of stainless steel compliance with the cosmetics regulation. This document intends to be guidance for manufacturers or users of stainless steel as well as the cosmetics industry as a whole by simplifying the way of tackling the current complex legislative framework.