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Update on Korean Food Contact Regulations: Special Control Measures Introduced for Rubber Products for Infants and Young Children, with Stricter Limit Requirements

Time：

2026-11-11

South Korea has issued a partial amendment to the "Standards and Specifications for Food Utensils, Containers, and Packaging" (Announcement No. 2026-72). This revision categorizes various products with shapes and purposes similar to rubber pacifiers, such as fruit feeders, fruit teething toys, and rubber straws, as "infant and toddler rubber products," with stricter requirements for residual and migration limits.

On October 30, 2026, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) of South Korea issued a partial amendment to the "Standards and Specifications for Food Utensils, Containers, and Packaging" (Notice No. 2026-72). To ensure the safety of infants and young children, new standards and specifications have been established for rubber products with shapes and usage methods similar to pacifiers, in order to separately manage rubber products for infants and young children.

Rubber products for infants and young children

The new version of the standard has changed "rubber nipples" in III.3 to "rubber products for infants and young children". Previously, only rubber nipples were required. This revision now categorizes various products with shapes and purposes similar to rubber pacifiers, such as fruit feeders, fruit teething toys, and rubber straws, under the unified classification of "rubber products for infants and young children". Consequently, the applicable standards and specifications have been strengthened to the same level as those for rubber pacifiers. Infants refer to children under 12 months old, while young children refer to those aged 12 to 36 months.

Project		Rubber products for infants and young children	Ordinary rubber products
Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) content		0.5%	No need to test
Residue Standard for Rubber Products	lead	10 mg/kg	100 mg/kg
	cadmium	10 mg/kg	100 mg/kg
	2-Mercaptoimidazoline (for chlorinated rubber products only)	Not detected	Not detected
	1,3-butadiene (rubber products where the content of 1,3-butadiene in the base polymer is ≥50%)	1 mg/kg	1 mg/kg
Rubber Products Migration Standard	lead	1 mg/L	1 mg/L
	Total migration volume	40 mg/L	60 mg/L
	phenol	5 mg/L	5 mg/L
	formaldehyde	4 mg/L	4 mg/L
	zinc	1 mg/L	15 mg/L
	Nitrosamines (a collective term for N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosodiethylamine, N-nitrosodi-n-propylamine, N-nitrosodi-n-butylamine, N-nitrosopiperidine, N-nitrosopyrrolidine, and N-nitrosomorpholine)	0.01 mg/kg	No need to test
	Sum of nitrosamine precursors (N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosodiethylamine, N-nitrosodi-n-propylamine, N-nitrosodi-n-butylamine, N-nitrosopiperidine, N-nitrosopyrrolidine, N-nitrosomorpholine)	0.1 mg/kg	No need to test

This announcement shall come into effect on October 30, 2026, and apply to articles and containers, and packaging first manufactured, processed, or imported (based on the date of shipment) after October 30, 2026. Manufacturers, importers, and suppliers of rubber products for infants and young children should review their product portfolios and evaluate whether their materials and finished products comply with the newly established residual and migration requirements, ensuring that the products meet the requirements of the new version of the standards.

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