Food cling & catering film

What a catering kitchen actually buys

Cling film is bought on three things and quoted on one. The three are width, cling behaviour and whether the box cuts; the one is price per roll, which is why so many kitchens are on a film that fights them.

A 300 mm roll covers a gastronorm 1/1 lengthwise and nothing wider. A 450 mm roll covers a full tray and a half-size trolley shelf. Buying 300 mm because it is cheaper per roll and then double-wrapping every tray costs more film, not less.

PVC or PVC-free

PVC clings harder and stretches further. It is what most professional kitchens are used to, it seals to a cold steel rim with one pass, and it is still legal for food contact in the EU under Regulation (EU) 10/2011 with the plasticiser restrictions that regulation sets.

PE and PVC-free grades cling less and tear more predictably. They are what a specification asks for when the customer's own policy excludes PVC — several retail and hospital supply chains now do — or when the film goes into a microwave or an oven-safe application.

Neither is the right answer for everyone. What matters is that the answer is written down, because a kitchen that switches film without telling anyone gets a week of complaints about wrap that will not stick.

Food contact is a specification, not a property

Every film here is available with a declaration of compliance to Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 and, for plastics, Regulation (EU) 10/2011 — including the migration testing where the application needs it. Ask for it explicitly and it appears on the order confirmation.

A film ordered without that specification is not food-contact grade even if it comes off the same extruder, and "it has always been fine" is not a document an auditor accepts.