Migration of photoinitiators from cardboard into dry food: evaluation of Tenax® as a food simulant

Current approaches and challenges of sample preparation procedures for the safety assessment of paper and cardboard food contact materials: A comprehensive review

In the European Union (EU), Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 provides a harmonized legal EU framework and sets out the general principles for safety and inertness for all Food Contact Materials (FCMs) and Food Contact Articles. From a food safety point of view, however, specific EU legislation for paper and cardboard FCMs is lacking, while at Member State level, national legislation differs among countries. More than 11,000 chemicals have been identified in all types of FCMs, most of them without any information on toxicity or migration potential from FCM to food. The present review shows a wide variability of protocols, approaches, and conditions used in scientific studies, which are difficult to compare. In this regard, procedures and conditions laid down in EU legislation for plastics and European Standards (EN protocols) may serve as a good basis for the future sample preparation procedures in the framework of paper and cardboard FCMs safety assessment. Challenges on sample preparation procedures are presented involving the interlinked steps of sample preparation, conditions used and their impact in chemical analysis and in vitro bioassay testing. Currently, there is no general consensus on the criteria for structuring, evaluating, and tuning sample preparation procedures for paper and cardboard FCMs. For this purpose, a set of modified criteria and a decision tree are proposed based on the literature. Along this, mass transfer processes occurring in paper and cardboard FCMs and parameters affecting chemical migration need to be accounted for prior to reaching general consensus on criteria for sample preparation procedures.

Hazard prioritisation of substances in printing inks and adhesives applied to plastic food packaging

Thousands of intentionally added substances can be used in printing inks and adhesives applied to plastic food packaging. Some of them can be transferred to foodstuffs through a phenomenon called migration, arising concerns on the potential adverse health effects derived from the exposure to chemicals that have not yet been assessed for their risks to humans. The large number of the substances concerned and the lack of prioritisation strategies hamper the work of control authorities, since it is not clear which substances should be monitored as first priority. In this study, a hazard prioritisation strategy is proposed. An inventory listing more than 6,000 substances used in inks and adhesives applied to plastic food packaging was compiled and filtered using several exclusion criteria aimed to set apart those substances for which there is no apparent need for further evaluation or because fall into one of the exclusion categories of the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) approach. Additionally, substances with a molecular weight >1,000 Da were removed. Approximately 2,300 substances were retained, for which a comprehensive hazard profiling was conducted based on the general scheme for the application of the TTC approach. First, structural alerts for genotoxic and non-genotoxic carcinogenicity were investigated. If a substance was neither genotoxic nor belonging to the chemical classes of organophosphates and carbamates, the Cramer classification was used. Furthermore, the substances were searched for their presence in three so-called 'Substances of Concern' lists and RASFF notifications. Groups of high, medium and low priority substances were established, resulting in 1,660 substances classified as high and medium priority. A panel of five experts evaluated these substances with respect to their relevance for further risk evaluations. By applying this hazard prioritisation strategy, 696 substances were identified as 'Very High Priority Substances' (VHPS) for which further assessments should be performed.

Migration of food contact substances into dry foods: A review

A comprehensive review of the literature was performed on migration of substances from packaging materials into dry foods, specifically those with surfaces containing no free fats or oils. Historically, migration from food packaging to dry foods has been assumed to be minimal. However, several recent publications have reported concentrations of migrants into dry foods that are substantially higher than anticipated. The goal of this review is to provide a comprehensive summary of recent studies that examined migration to dry foods or dry food simulants, observe and assess common migrants, and report the highest migration values. Focusing on the packaging materials and migrants that exhibit the highest migration values, this review divided the studies into two categories: 1) analysis of food products in commercial packaging taken directly from grocery store shelves, and 2) analysis of food products and food simulants in contact with packaging or other material fortified with known quantities of a migrant. Discussions include the examination of migration testing methods, viability of different food simulants, and variables that affect migration behaviour. These include the physicochemical properties of both the migrant and food (i.e. volatility, molecular size, structure, food composition and particle size) and factors pertaining to the packaging material and the environment (i.e. temperature, humidity, and the presence of a secondary barrier). Information gaps and remaining questions are also identified and discussed.