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Biobased materials used in food contact applications: an assessment of the migration potential
Project Code: A03070
Food and Environment Research Agency, Sand Hutton, York YO41 1LZ
The identities of any potential migrants in the biobased materials were determined using a suite of analytical methods. Following a consideration of the nature of the substances and restrictions in the legislation placed on their use in food contact materials, migration studies were carried out into foods and food simulants for selected substances. These substances included oligomers (short chains of monomers that go to form polymer plastics), alkanes and fatty acids, which are expected breakdown products from organic derived plastics and plant based materials. Food simulants are used in the laboratory to provide a conservative estimate of the amount of individual substances that may migrate from packaging into food.
As paper/board food packaging materials are well established, and the migration from these materials has already been studied (for example, Agency-funded project A03021 on chemical migration from recycled paper and board), they were not included in the scope of this project.
In an earlier Food Standards Agency-commissioned project, A03040, investigating the nature and extent of biodegradable polymers used in direct food contact applications, it was noted that ‘The methods of test for migration, using food simulants, are likely to be directly applicable to testing most biodegradable polymers….’. The current project confirmed that this was correct. Where migration was observed, the simulants either approximated or overestimated the expected migration into foods. However, materials sensitive to humidity which were tested in an olive oil simulant needed to be dried first.
The main conclusion of the study is that there was little measurable migration from the materials tested.
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