Model studies of migration from paper and board into fruit and vegetables and into Tenax™ as a food simulant

Abstract

Four samples of paper and board (P/B) of a type used for packaging dry foods were subjected to migration tests using mushrooms, apples, potatoes and bananas, and using the polymeric powder Tenax™ as a food simulant. The P/B samples contained only low levels of diisopropylnaphthalene (DiPN) and diisobutyl phthalate (DiBP) and so the experiments were conducted after impregnating the P/B with added model substances. These were o-xylene, acetophenone, dodecane, benzophenone, DiPN and DiBP. Migration levels depended strongly on the nature of the substance and on the nature of the food and much less on the characteristics of the P/B, except insofar as they affected the contact area – flexible papers giving more extensive contact with the food than thick rigid board. Migration into Tenax™ was at least a factor of 10 higher than migration into the fresh fruit and vegetables. The food samples were placed in contact with the P/B and then overwrapped loosely with aluminium foil and so this correction factor will tend to be conservative compared with a more open storage of the packed foods. Washing, peeling or cooking the fruits and vegetables after contact with the P/B had a surprisingly small effect on contaminant levels in general, and no one processing step was effective in giving a significant reduction of all the types of chemicals studied. This was because either they had penetrated into the food (so resisting peeling), or were not freely water-soluble (so resisting washing) or were not particularly volatile (so resisting loss by evaporation during cooking).

Keywords:

• paper and board
• packaging
• migration
• fruits
• vegetables
• correction factors

Funding

Funding of this work by the Confederation of the European Paper Industries (CEPI) is gratefully acknowledged. The statements and conclusions in this paper are the responsibility of the authors alone and they should not be taken to represent the opinion of CEPI.