Due to their close contact with food, cookware products carry higher risks for safety issues than many other consumer products. Product recalls can occur if it is deemed that the object poses a potential safety hazard to users.
In addition to being costly, product recalls can also damage a brand’s reputation and have long-term effects on how the company is perceived by the public. This is why additional tests beyond what can normally be performed during a product inspection are often required to ensure that cookware is in compliance with international standards
In this blog post, we will explore international regulations in the EU and U.S. that cookware manufacturers need to be aware of and list 7 of the most important cookware safety tests that can help prevent product recalls.
Cookware safety regulations exist to provide a common form of quality measurement scale, which manufacturers use to make sure their products meet the market quality requirements for their customers.
Cookware safety tests offer importers a form of assurance that the product they are buying is of good quality if the manufacturer complies with the safety regulations provided in the country.
Safety tests are mainly done on the prototype before product production begins. They are essential to the manufacturing companies and the customers for the following reasons:
Regulations differ depending on where the product is being distributed. This means that importers in the EU will have to meet different standards than importers in the U.S. Therefore, the testing methods will vary slightly depending on the region.
Here are some common cookware safety lab tests that European importers should know:
The safety regulations tests used in Europe and the U.S. are pretty similar. However, the U.S. quality inspection companies conduct additional safety tests to meet the customer requirements for markets in different regions worldwide.
The tests conducted by Cookware Manufacturers' Association (CMA) in the USA are:
Ensuring that quality assessment methods are consistent when sourcing overseas is a real challenge. For cookware importers, lab testing is a nice approach to ensure product safety and compliance. At AQF, we provide you with faster and easier lab testing with AQF’s streamlined lab testing service. Contact us to learn more about cookware testing regulations and book your lab testing today.
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