Related Experiment Videos
Indirect food additive migration from polymeric food packaging materials
D Till1, A D Schwope, D J Ehntholt
1Product Technology Laboratories, Arthur D. Little, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Critical Reviews in Toxicology
|January 1, 1987
Summary
Polymeric packaging migrants can transfer to food, with migration rates depending on time, temperature, and initial concentration. Food components can significantly increase migration, affecting packaging safety assessments.
Area of Science:
- Food Science
- Polymer Science
- Analytical Chemistry
Background:
- Polymeric packaging materials can contain residues and additives.
- Migration of these substances from packaging to food is a critical safety concern.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the migration of substances from polymeric packaging to foods.
- To correlate accelerated migration tests using food-simulating liquids (FSL) with actual food migration data.
Main Methods:
- Eight polymer-migrant systems were studied.
- Migration was measured using various food-simulating liquids (FSL) and diverse food types (liquid, semi-solid, solid, dry, aqueous, oily).
- Accelerated tests were conducted with FSL at 49°C following FDA guidelines, with comparisons to migration in foods under normal conditions.
Main Results:
- Migration generally increased with the square root of time, temperature, and initial migrant concentration.
- Stirring had minimal impact except for specific systems (dioctyl adipate from PVC).
- Food components could penetrate polymers, significantly increasing migration rates, while FSL saturation could limit migration.
Conclusions:
- 3% acetic acid was not a superior food simulant compared to water, even for acidic foods.
- Water as an FSL at 49°C often overestimated migration in aqueous foods due to saturation.
- Underprediction of migration occurred when food components enhanced penetration into the polymer.