PACKAGING TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE VOL 7 299-300 (1994)

News Items from Around the World

SOCIETY OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY FOOD PACKAGING SEMINARY, LON DON, 16 JUNE

Validity of food simulants for migration tests queried

The validity of food simulants in migration testing of food contact materials was hotly debated during a food packaging seminar held by the Society of Chemical Industry at its London headquarters on 16 June.

Speaking at the seminar, packaging scientist and consultant Professor Frank Paine said ‘The level of migration of chemicals from food contact materials is often determined using food simu- lants, but food simulants do not necessarily simu- late what foods do to plastics-it is better to think of them as test liquids. This is particularly important as we move over to recycled materials because recyclates may contain additional con- taminants. If food simulants are used for testing then we need to be very sure they are compatible with foods.’

Differing opinions emerged later in the day during an open forum discussion, where a number of delegates felt that migration testing of food contact materials using food simulants was the best option available at the present time. Foods were too complex to use and generally food simu- lants were more severe than foods. Others, how- ever, were concerned that too much reliance was being placed on food simulants as there are many examples where they give the wrong answer.

Packaging recycling will have little effect on global warming

Professor Paine also told delegates that global warming will not be affected by any action taken against either packaging, in general, or food packa- ging, in particular. ‘Only 2% of total waste is due to packaging, so concentrating on this area will

not solve the basic problem’ he warned. ‘The only resource that the earth is running out of is energy. Therefore, if we want to recycle we should compare the energy used in the recycling process with that used in obtaining the packaging from virgin material. If there is a negative balance then we should think again carefully’ he said.

MAFF research programme priorities

Earlier in the conference Steve Pugh, scientist at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) summarized the current MAFF research programme into food contact materials ‘Our pro- gramme is a wide ranging programme, which aims to ensure consumer safety and provide sup- port for our negotiations in Brussels’ he said. New projects include non-intrusive methods of measuring migration, the transformation of mono- mers into food simulants, research into functional barriers and migration from coatings on metal containers, rubbers and elastomers. On paper and board, research topic include the migration of plastic materials from microwaveable packaging and analytical methods for fluorescent whitening agents.

He acknowledged that ‘adhesives are an area that we know we should be working on. Although there has been some fundamental research carried out, more needs to be done’. Additional items for research on food contact material are the compar- ison of compositional limits and specific migration limits and mathematical modelling.

Neutron activation analysis for trace metals looks promising

A current research project using neutron activation analysis to study toxic metals in plastics was outlined by Dr S. J. Parry, from the Centre for Analytical Research in the Environment. This method appears to have several advantages over

CCC 0894-32 14/94/060299-02 0 1994 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

300 NEWS ITEMS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

other methods’ including the ability to determine over 60 elements simultaneously. Detection limits are also very low (below 10-9g) and the method can be used to analyse solids, liquids and gases with no interference from carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, thus making it particularly suitable for plastics. ‘Studies have been carried out on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) using two food simulants (water and olive oil) and these have given encouraging results’. During questions it was noted that a major advantage of the method is that it could be carried out on real foods rather than test liquids.

Options for deregulation

Dereguiation Study of Food Contact Materials (issued 22 April 1994). This was carried out as part of the UK Government’s deregulation initia- tive seeking ways to decrease costs to industry within the overall requirements of the EC packa- ging directives. Several options to ease the burden of testing on industry were discussed. An area of particular interest is the practise of using recycled materials in food contact packaging. Some EU member states expressly forbid this and MAFF asked for comments on a proposal to resist such a blanket ban, subject to appropriate food safety controls. Several delegates expressed support for this view, suggesting that a complete ban should apply only to pharmaceuticals and foods and recommended that the same criteria be applied to recycled as to virgin materials.

The seminar was followed by an open forum to discuss a MAFF consultative document on