Wooden packaging
National legislation
Regulation on Health Suitability of Materials and Articles Intended to Come into Direct Contact with Food
Official Gazette, No. 125/2009 and 31/2011
National legislation
Act on General Use Good (see Article 49, point 2.)
Official Gazette, No. 39/2013, 47/2014, 114/2018 and 53/2022
Competent authority
Ministry of Health
Email: helpdesk_sigurnost_hrane@miz.hr
Phone: +385 1 46 07 555
Web: https://zdravlje.gov.hr/
Scope of application
Wooden packaging in contact with food
Main requirements that the business user needs to know about
Article 117
Wooden packaging (crates, wooden crates, barrels, vats etc.) must be made from healthy wood and worked so that the food is not damaged mechanically.
Fixings on the wooden packaging must be made so that they not cause damage, and the grips must be placed so that the hands do not come into contact with the food.
Products from paragraph 1 of this article, through extraction over the course of 1 hour or 24 hours, depending on the conditions of use, in distilled water at the temperature of 23°C must not release more than:
- 5 mg/dm² of formaldehyde
- 5 mg/L of lead
- 5 mg/L of cadmium
- mg/L of chromium(IV) cations
- mg/L of mercury
Article 118
Barrels and vats must be smooth on all sides, without cracks or surface unevenness which would prevent the standard cleaning and maintaining such packaging hygienically clean.
Sealers between the staves, bottom and covers of barrels and vats must be properly placed and they must be impermeable to all fluids.
Beer barrels must not leak any fluids even for internal pressures of up to 200 kPa.
Article 119
Glues used in making wooden packaging must have a harmful effect on the food organoleptic properties or chemical composition.
Article 120
Wooden packaging must not be painted, except for the markings on the packaging.
Dyes used to colour the markings on the wooden packaging must not be water soluble and must conform with the requirements set out in article 13 and article 14 of this Regulation.
Markings on the wooden packaging may be placed only on the exterior part of the packaging.
Article 121
Wooden packaging can be impregnated with paraffin, wax, resin or their compounds, varnish, coatings from various materials and other materials which do not affect organoleptic properties of food and are not harmful to human health.
Article 122
Prior and after use, wooden package must be thoroughly cleaned, washed and disinfected.
Market Surveillance Authority
State Inspectorate
Link to the TRIS database
In the TRIS database you can look up the notification of the technical rule