Packaging popcorn

Postharvest practices for the production of cleaned and packaged popcorn... 

FIGURE 3.1 Sentinel microwave popcorn plant with holding tanks in the mezzanine above microwave popcorn packaging line. 

Packaged food containers are sometimes coated with PFCs (perfluorochemicals, the same stuff that s in Teflon) to prevent leaking. If you buy these, take the food out of the box and place it in glass or ceramic jars. Microwave popcorn often comes in PFC-coated bags. Stick to good old-fashioned do-it-yourself popcorn instead. 

Bread is the staff of life, but donuts are not. People rarely eat one-half of a croissant or a danish. The vending machine dispenser has a package of four Oreo cookies, not two medium cookies. There is no serving container for sale at the cinema that provides only one cup of popcorn, but that is the official USDA/FDA serving size ... 

Food Preservation Foods often spoil because they react with oxygen. Many methods of food preservation maintain product freshness by excluding oxygen. For example, apples stored in an atmosphere of carbon dioxide can be kept fresh long after harvest. Foods such as crackers and popcorn are often packaged in an atmosphere of an unreactive gas such as nitrogen or argon. 

While cyclic oligomers of PET-S (up to 7.0 g/kg) are found in a number of microwaveable PET-S food packages (i.e., those for Erench fries, popcorn, fish sticks, waffles, and pizza) [49]). 

In this context, another polymeric material that has (and is) been used in packaging should also be cited. This material is the paper , which is made of natural polymer (not a plastic) cellulose, which is an inert chemical. Although paper is inert, it is still claimed that the coating on the paper used to give grease resistance to microwave popcorn bags, fast food and candy wrappers, as well as in pizza box liners, can leach out certain toxic chemicals to the food in contact with it. When ingested (with the food), these chemicals are shown to break down into perfluoro-octanic acid, a chemical that an EPA expert... 

FIGURE 12.2 UHPLC-MS/MS chromatogram of a popcorn packaging sample extract. Peak identification (1) PFHpA (2) Cg-PFOA (3) PFOA (4) PFNA (5) Q-PFOS (6) PFOS (7) PFDA (8) PFUDA and (9) PFDoA. (Adapted from Martfnez-Moral, M. P. and Tena, M. T. 2012. Talanta 101 104-109. With permission.)... 

No significant matrix effect was instead observed in popcorn packaging methanol extract containing PFOA, PFOS, and some PFCAs, when comparing the slopes of the plots signal/concentration built for methanol solutions of the standard analytes and for the methanol extract [34]. 

When PFC-coated paper and board is in direct contact with food, PEOA and other PFCs can migrate to the food, and packaging becomes a direct source of human exposure. Migration of PFOA from packaging paper into popcorn resulted in mg/kg levels in microwave-produced popcorn, and PFCA was also found in the gas phase of microwaved popcorn [62-64], Also the presence of di-substituted thioether phosphate surfactants (S-diPAPs) was observed in several microwave popcorn migrates but their quantitation was impossible, due to the lack of di-PAPS standard (manufactured by Ciba under the name Lodyne P208E) [32]. 

Martfnez-Moral, M. P. and Tena, M. T. 2012. Determination of perfluorocomponnds in popcorn packaging by pressnrized liquid extraction and ultra-performance liqnid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Talanta 101 104—109. 

Of these groups, pre-treated carpeting and carpeting treated with carpet-care solution had the highest PFOA loadings 0.2-0.6 and 0.2-2 mg of PFOA per kg of article, respectively. Studies by other researchers reported PFOA content in nonstick cookware, food contact paper, thread sealant tape and dental floss. Data for other PFCAs in commercial products are rather scarce. One study by Sinclair et al. reported the C5 to C12 PFCA content in three brands of popcorn packaging paper. 

In the same study, PFOA was found in the vapours produced by microwave heating of pre-packed popcorn bags. Furthermore, milligram quantities of both PFCAs and FTOHs were calculated to coat the entire surface of the package [16]. The authors noted that they were not able to explain the origin of the FTOHs from the cookware, because FTOHs are not used to manufacture cookware, and no plausible way for FTOH to be formed from PTFE is known (Table 7). 

YalamanchiK, R, Gannamani, R., Munamarty, R., McClusky, R, and Christou, A. 1995. Optimum processing prevents RQFR popcorning. CALCE Electronic Packaging Research Center, MD, SMT, May. 

Subsequently the solder reflow process used in PCB assembly may produce a dramatic reaction, known as the popcorn effect , due to rapid expansion of the moisture within the package which then bnrsts with resulting physical damage. The problem is avoided by pmchasing components in vacuum-sealed moisture-controlled packs which have to be stored in a controlled enviromnent after being opened. The use of the components is then governed by the supplier s instructions as printed on the packaging. 

The types of cereal food products included in this chapter are processed, packaged cereal products and certain bulk products available to consumers from retail sources, for example, granolas, ready-to-eat breakfast cereals, crackers, flours, pastas, bran, chips, snack bars, cookies, and some minimally processed, packaged whole grains (e.g., popcorn and rice). The processed products considered to be cereal foods are generally made up of wheat, maize (corn), oats, rice, rye, and millet however, cereal products also include buckwheat, amaranth, and quinoa, which are handled as cereals by the food industry. 

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