Food simulants, migration into

Ozaki, A., Yamaguchi, Y., Okamoto, A. and Kawai, N. (2002). Determination of alkylphenols, bisphenol A, benzophenone and phthalates in containers of baby food, and migration into food simulants, Shokuhin Eiseigaku Zasshi (J. Food Hyg. Soc. Japan), 43, 4, 260-266. 

The migration of package ingredients directly into a food product is often difficult to analyze instrumentally because of interference from food ingredients. Some of these analyses have been made, but it is generally preferable to use food simulating solvents listed in FDA regulations and to carry out extraction tests under the conditions described. 

The migration/sorption behavior test for BHT and a-tocopherol in LDPE packaging materials in contact with fatty food simulants has indicated that the rate of migration of a-tocopherol into food simulants is lower than that for BHT. Since a-tocopherol was transferred from the film to the simulant to a lesser extent, it is considered a more stable antioxidant than BHT (Wessling et ah, 1998). BHT has also been found to migrate more rapidly than Irganox 1010 into dry food stored in LDPE wraps (Schwope et ah, 1987a). 

The European Commission has mandated the European Committee for Standardization to establish a validated method of analysis for the determination of OMLs and SMLs. If a product complies with the compositional requirements of the directives, i.e., it is produced from authorized monomers and additives, then it may be tested for any desired application. If it meets the migration requirements, it is acceptable for use in cases covered by that test method. Typical food simulants used in the tests are hot water, acetic acid, ethyl alcohol and olive oil. The choice of an appropriate simulant depends on the type of food expected to come into contact with the packaging. 

Dopico-Garcia, M.S., Lopez-Vilarino, J.M. and Gonzales-Rodriguez, M.V. (2003). Determination of antioxidant migration levels from low-density polyethylene films into food simulants, J. Chromatogr. A, 1018, 53-62. 

Inoue, K., Kondo, S., Yoshie, Y., Kato, K., Yoshimura, Y., Horie, M. and Nakazawa, H. (2001). Migration of 4-nonylphenol from polyvinyl chloride food packaging films into food simulants and foods, Food Addit. Contam., 18, 2, 157-164. 

Badeka and Kontominas (1996) reported the efifect of microwave heating on the migration of di(2-ethylhexyl) adipate from food-grade PVC into olive oil and water. Migration was dependent on heating time, microwave power setting, the nature of the food simulant and the initial concentration of the plasticizer in the film. 

The specificity and detection limits of methods for determining simple, small molecules present in packaging material which migrate into packaged goods have been discussed (Vogt, 1988). Butadiene can be determined in plastic polymers, foods and food simulants by chromatographic methods. 

P. Murphy, D. MacDonald, and T. Lickly, Styrene migration from general-purpose and high-impact polystyrene into food-simulating solvents, Food Chem. Toxicol, 30(3) 225-232, March 1992. 

The term migration testing is almost universally associated with tests using food simulants (model foods) rather than testing for migration into foods. 

Ethanol and aqueous ethanol mixtures play important roles as food simulants for the determination of migration of substances from packaging into foods. Depending on the polarity of the plastic one can use pure ethanol (for nonpolar plastics) or aqueous ethanol mixtures up to 50/50 % (for polar plastics) as alternative simulants to edible oils (see Chapters 9,10 and 11). The estimation of partition coefficients in poly-mer/simulant systems is consequently of practical importance. It is possible to do this for polyolefins in contact with alcohol and aqueous alcohol mixtures with the help of an equation analogous to Eq. (4-100) (Piringer, 1993) ... 

Figure 8-5 Concentration profile for the migration of chlorobenzene in and from an impurified PET core layer into a virgin PET barrier layer and a food simulating liquid F.

An important quantity which can be calculated at equilibrium conditions is the amount of substance migrated into the food or food simulant at equilibrium, mF,e. Provided that the migration potential in the polymer, i.e. the initial amount of migrant dissolved in the polymer, mP0, is known then from mass balance calculations the following equation can be derived ... 

Pari 1 Guide to the lest methods for specific migration of substances from plastics into food and food simulants and the determination of substances in plastics and the selection of conditions of exposure to food simulants ... 

Simal Gandara J, Lopez Mahia P, Paseiro Losada P, Simal Lozano J and Paz Abuin S, 1993, Overall migration and specific migration of bisphenol A diglycidyl ether monomer and m-xylylenediamine hardener from an optimized epoxy-amine formulation into water-based food simulants. Food Additiv. Contam. 10 (5), 555-565. 

FDA also concluded that establishing a 0.5 pg/kg dietary concentration as the threshold of regulation is appropriate because it corresponds to a migration level that is above the measurement limit for many of the analytical methods used to quantify migrants from food-contact materials. Thus, decisions are usually made based on dietary concentrations that result from measurable migration into food or food-simulating solvents rather than on worst-case estimates of dietary concentration based on the detection limits of the methods used in the analysis. 

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