Packaging materials, migration

Traces of styrene can affect the quality of food products above certain migration levels. It has been shown that usually over half of the residual styrene in the food contact packaging material migrates within 24 hours, which is the normal shelf life of many food products. The metabolites of styrene are mandelic acid, a known mutagen, and styrene oxide, a known carcinogen. 

Miscellaneous Uses. Inks used by inspectors to stamp the grade or quaUty on meat must, bylaw, be made from food-grade colors. Dyes used in packaging materials that come in direct contact with a food must also be food-grade or, if not, it must be estabUshed that no part of the colorant used migrates into the food product. Pet foods, too, if colored, must contain only those colorants recognized by the FDA as suitable for the purpose. 

The methods of analysis of polymer additives and chemicals, such as hydrocarbons, alcohols, etc., are not only restricted to the field of polymer chemistry but can also be applied for the analysis of such materials in the field of food chemistry. In addition, the analysis of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in edible oils has been of extreme importance. Polymeric packaging materials that are intended for food-contact use may contain certain additives that can migrate into the food products which are actually packaged in such products. The amounts of the additives that are permitted to migrate into food samples are controlled by government agencies in order to show... 

Concern over the migration of plasticisers from packaging materials has led to various studies, amongst which monitoring levels of various phthalates from coatings of regenerated cellulose film [433] and of acetyl-tributyl citrate (ATBC) from vinylidene chloride/vinyl... 

In the final consequence, it means that the problem of mineral oil migration from board to foodstuff - mainly discussed in Germany - has to be treated and solved on a European level. The possible solutions and drawbacks for the folding boxboard production as packaging material discussed in this chapter include ... 

Therefore, the use of mineral oil-reduced RCP grades, e.g. free of newspapers, for food packaging will lead of course to a reduction of the mineral oil contamination and in consequence of the migration problem into foodstuff. However, in general, there will still exist a permanent input of mineral oil from the packaging material production not intended to be used for non-food packaging. The mineral... 

From the pros and cons of the discussed measures to solve the migration problems of mineral oil from packaging material into foodstuff, the following consequences in the opinion of the authors are derived ... 

K. Grob, Comprehensive analysis of migrates from food-packaging materials a challenge, Food Addit. Contam., 19(Supplement) (2002) 185-191. 

An alternative packaging is the combination of food-packaging materials with antimicrobial substances to control microbial surface contamination of foods. For both migrating and nonmigrating antimicrobial materials, intensive contact between the food product and packaging material is required and therefore potential food applications include especially vacuum or skin-packaged products (Vermeiren and others 2002). 

The enforcement in Denmark of EU Directives on food packaging materials is discussed. Enforcement activities considered include studies of total migration from food contact materials, migration from kitchen-and tableware made of melamine plastics and migration of di(2-ethylhexyl)adipate from plasticised PVC films. Activities which need to be undertaken to increase the effectiveness of enforcement activities in the field of migration are described, including development of selfinspection programmes in industry, European network of enforcement, more rapid analysis and provision of information to the consumer. 2 refs. 

Food Additives and Contaminants Vol.19, Suppl., 2002, p.185-91 COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF MIGRATES FROM FOOD-PACKAGING MATERIALS A CHALLENGE Grab K... 

There is no precise definition for the frequently used term application fastness of a pigment. It usually refers to the behavior exhibited by a finished product used in accordance with the specifications. The term may thus refer to a print, a coated object, or a plastic product, and the list of features ranges from properties such as lightfastness and weatherfastness to migration fastness and fastness to solvents. In this context, there is a certain amount of emphasis on features which play a role in connection with packaging materials and packed articles. 

The definition of a food additive in Section 201(s) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended ( the Act ) refers to substances whose intended use results directly or indirectly in the substance becoming a component of food. The FDA refers to direct food additives as those added to a food to accomplish an intended effect. Indirect additives are those that unintentionally, though predictably, become components of food. Components of plastic packaging materials that can migrate to food are indirect additives. 

Migration of nitrosamines into consumer products can occur via direct contact of materials such as waxed containers, elastic and rubber etc.81. Morpholine is used extensively as an industrial solvent for wax formulations. The wax formulations are used for coating fruits and vegetables to prevent moisture loss and increase shelf-life of the products. Paper and cardboard packed with morpholine was also found to give rise to NDMA, as these packaging materials were found to be contaminated with NDMA as well. Besides this, rubber products also provided a migratory source for both nitrosamines and nitros-able amine precursors, as trace levels of NDEA and TV-nitrosodibutylamine (NDBA) have been reported in cured meats with amine-based accelerators in the rubber nettings82. 

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). 

Helmroth, E., Rijk, R., Dekker, M. and Jongen, W. (2002). Predictive modelling of migration from packaging materials into food products for regulatory purposes. Trends Food Sci. Tech., 13, 102-109. 

BPA can occur due to an incomplete polymerization, followed by migration into the food or environment [200], Furthermore, BPA monomer is used as color developer in thermal paper and is consequently also present in recycled paper and paperboard which can be used as food packaging material [201]. Human exposure to BPA is believed to occur mainly through contaminated food, although recently dermal exposure and absorption have gained attention [202-204]. 

---