Contamination in food from packaging material.

The employment of novel food packaging materials has increased the number of occurring hazards due to the migration from packaging material to the packaged food. Although polymers have mainly monopolized the interest of migration testing and experimentation, recent studies have revealed that migration also occurs from “traditional” materials generally considered to be safe, such as paper, carton, wood, ceramic, and metal. The regulations and the directives of the EU tend to become stricter in this respect. The emphasis is on reaching a consensus in terms of food simulants and testing conditions for migration studies. Furthermore, the list of hazardous monomers, oligomers, and additives continues to augment in order to ensure that the consumer safety is in current agreement with the HACCP, which is continuously gaining ground.

Migration of Substances from Food Packaging Materials to Foods

The current potential for the use of migration modelling for studying polyolefin packaging materials (low- and high-density polyethylene and polypropylene) is summarized and demonstrated with practical examples. For these polymers, an upper limit of migration into foodstuffs can be predicted with a high degree of statistical confidence. The only analytical information needed for modelling in such cases is the initial concentration of the migrant in the polymer matrix. For polyolefins of unknown origin or newly developed materials with new properties, a quick experimental method is described for obtaining the characteristic matrix parameter needed for migration modelling. For easy handling of both the experimental results and the diffusion model, user-friendly software has been developed. An additional aim of the described method is the determination of the migrant partition between polymer and food or food simulant and the specific contribution of the migrant molecular structure on the diffusion coefficie...

Migration modelling as a tool for quality assurance of food packaging.

Tryptophan is an essential plant-derived amino acid that is needed for the in vivo biosynthesis of proteins. After consumption, it is metabolically transformed to bioactive metabolites, including serotonin, melatonin, kynurenine, and the vitamin niacin (nicotinamide). This brief integrated overview surveys and interprets our current knowledge of the reported multiple analytical methods for free and protein-bound tryptophan in pure proteins, protein-containing foods, and in human fluids and tissues, the nutritional significance of l-tryptophan and its isomer d-tryptophan in fortified infant foods and corn tortillas as well the possible function of tryptophan in the diagnosis and mitigation of multiple human diseases. Analytical methods include the use of acid ninhydrin, near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy, colorimetry, basic hydrolysis; acid hydrolysis of S-pyridylethylated proteins, and high-performance liquid and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Also covered are the nutritional values of tryptophan-fortified infant formulas and corn-based tortillas, safety of tryptophan for human consumption and the analysis of maize (corn), rice, and soybean plants that have been successfully genetically engineered to produce increasing tryptophan. Dietary tryptophan and its metabolites seem to have the potential to contribute to the therapy of autism, cardiovascular disease, cognitive function, chronic kidney disease, depression, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, sleep, social function, and microbial infections. Tryptophan can also facilitate the diagnosis of certain conditions such as human cataracts, colon neoplasms, renal cell carcinoma, and the prognosis of diabetic nephropathy. The described findings are not only of fundamental scientific interest but also have practical implications for agriculture, food processing, food safety, nutrition, and animal and human health. The collated information and suggested research need will hopefully facilitate and guide further studies needed to optimize the use of free and protein-bound tryptophan and metabolites to help improve animal and human nutrition and health.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1178646918802282

Analysis, Nutrition, and Health Benefits of Tryptophan:

Migration of low-molecular weight compounds is one of the most important problems of packaging plastics and other plastics intended to come into contact with food products. Since migration experiments are time consuming and expensive, predictive modelling has been introduced as a promising alternative. The main objective of this article is to review current knowledge on migration modelling and highlight the consequences of using modelling for regulatory purposes. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Predictive modelling of migration from packaging materials into food products for regulatory purposes

A model for estimating the migration of organic substances from plastic materials into foodstuffs has been previously developed. The use of this model allows a shift away from expensive and time consuming migration analysis in foods to much simpler and more economic compositional analysis in the material. Starting with toxicologically-based specific migration values, like the over 400 specific migration limit values for organic substances listed in the European Union's Synoptic Document No. 7, the corresponding allowable maximum quantity limits of these substances in the plastic were calculated. The amount of migration that can occur depends on many different factors such as the natures of the plastic, substance and food, contact time and temperature conditions, material thickness and number of uses. These factors can result in a variety of situations which must be taken into account in the estimation of migration. The handling of the migration estimation model is demonstrated for several practical migration scenarios using a series of case studies.

J. Brandsch

Papers

The application of a predictive migration model for evaluating the compliance of plastic materials with European food regulations