Safe Packaging, Food and Migration

Food and food safety are highly important topics in the society today. The food should be safe, healthy and sustainable in every way. Naturally, this also includes the food packaging, which is important both for food quality and shelf life, reduced food waste and for food safety. When it comes to food safety, it is required that all plastic packaging materials in contact with the food (Food Contact Materials - FCM) must be in accordance with the strict European regulations (EC 1935/2004 and EU 10/2011). Migration of chemical substances from the packaging to the food has to be below the given specified migration limits (SML). Substances classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic (CMRs) should not be present at all. More knowledge about migrating chemical substances, both intentionally added (IAS) and non-intentionally added (NIAS) is needed. The high focus on food safety applies to all parts of the food value chain, and the partners in the TREMM project have identified several challenges that are important for the industry to solve. The regulations are insufficient and difficult to follow, and the risk assessment for food contact materials is inadequate. More knowledge about chemical substances intentionally added to food contact materials and how they migrate into the food is needed. There is a lack of knowledge about (NIAS) in FCM, and how these migrate to the food. There is also a lack of analytical methods for determination of a huge number of chemical substances and NIAS components. COLLABORATION PROJECT The TREMM project is a collaboration project where companies from the food and food packaging industry work together with Norner Research and Nofima to solve the mentioned challenges. Bewi/Tommen Gram is the project owner, and the other industry partners represent both producers of food, packaging materials and filling machines. The main objective has been to investigate the migration of chemical substances from FCMs such as laminates, printed packaging materials and packaging intended for heating in microwave ovens. Examples are cheese and diary packaging. In addition to this, migration from food contact machine components, typically e.g in filling machines, classified as FCM have been investigated. NIAS SAFETY ASSESSMENT: EU 10/2011 requires that NIAS should be identified and give guidelines for how potential risk of these NIAS can be assessed. The project has developed a strategy and process for doing this based on Cramer Class classification. A Case study was performed where 8 different packaging materials (laminated and/or printed) were investigated. The two screening food simulants 95% ethanol and isooctane. Temperatures and migration time were adjusted to the intended packaging use. Both IAS and NIAS were found in all packages. The identified IAS and NIAS are well below the migration limits even at these harsh screening conditions. Results, IAS: Several IAS were found. They were identified and assessed against the SML from regulation EU10/2011. Even under harsh conditions, the migration was below SML for all substances. Two of the substances found are typically used in adhesives (Iso-cyanates). They were found in three of the packaging samples which were adhesive laminates. Tributyl acetylcitrate (ATBC), used as a plasticizer e.g in printing inks, was found in two packaging types, one laminate and one three-layer PE film. All other substances were well known polymer additives and monomers. Results, NIAS: NIAS are the most challenging to identify and they may have various sources. It can be side products, degradation products or contaminants. In the case study we found NIAS of different categories: a) Identified, known origin, b) Identified, unknown origin and c) Detected, but not identified. Among the NIAS we identified with a known origin, one group is saturated hydrocarbons. These are a natural part of the polymer. Two NIAS were similar to ATBC and were found in the same two packaging materials where ATBC was found. The other NIAS substances with known origin were from additives or monomers. Some NIAS components with unknown origin were identified. Adhesives or printing inks are possible origins. Analytical artefacts can also be a reason at the harsh conditions used. Several unidentified substances were found which proves the challenges in identification of NIAS. Most of these are very small and close to the detection limit. Project highlights: Successful development of analytical strategies for identification of NIAS in plastics packaging and validated methodology for risk assessment, which is implemented at the institutes. About 30 packaging materials for FCM were analysed, and many substances were identified. Most substances are well known, allowed and within the migration limits. At harsh migration conditions, some identified substances need further assessment. It can be concluded that the investigated packaging materials are safe to use in contact with food.

It was verified that the investigated packaging materials and machine components are safe to use with food contact. Advanced methods and strategies for risk assessment with respect to migration of chemical substances (intentionally and non-intentionally added) from packaging into food have been established and implemented. The industry partners have significantly improved skills and understanding of the complex safety issues in their packaging materials. This can be implemented in their own quality systems. It will be a significant benefit in discussions both with their packaging suppliers as well as their customers and the authorities, e.g Mattilsynet

I en ny artikkel om trender påpeker Norsk Landbrukssamvirke at «Forbrukerne i større grad vil foretrekke produkter som er trygge, sunne og bærekraftige, uten tilsetningsstoffer og medisiner». Slike endringer i matproduktene stiller krav til at emballasjen beskytter maten bedre enn tidligere, noe som vil føre til mer produktspesifikke emballasjeløsninger tilpasset forskjellige matvarer. Norsk matindustri har en høy grad av produktutvikling og innovasjon. Dette er en markedsorientert produktutvikling i samspill med dagligvarehandelen og kjedene for å møte forbrukernes etterspørsel og ønsker og bidra til redusert matsvinn. Dette fører til et økende press på å levere flere nye produkter på kort tid. Både de nye og etablerte produktene har behov for kontinuerlig utvikling av ny emballasje. Det er også en betydelig økt bekymring og fokus i EU, blant matprodusentene og akademia, rundt kjemiske forurensninger og reaksjonsprodukter ? de såkalte non-intentionally added substances (NIAS). Hovedidéen og målet med TREMM prosjektet er utvikle nye analysemetoder og strategier for å dokumentere innhold og migrasjon av IAS og NIAS i matemballasje. Dette vil føre til bedre mattrygghet ved bedre kvalitetsstyringsrutiner, spesifikasjoner og dokumentasjon hos bedriftene. Prosjektet har 7 deltagere: Matprodusenter (Orkla, Hoff ), emballasjeprodusenter (Elopak, Tommen Gram Folie) samt Norner AS, Nofima AS og SCG Chemicals. Bedriftene som står bak denne søknaden og Tommen Gram som søkerbedrift ønsker å utvikle bedre rutiner for kvalitetsledelse, kompetanse og analysemetoder for å kunne gi nødvendig støtte til den pågående produkt og emballasje-utviklingen i sine organisasjoner. All utvikling har en risiko og dette prosjektet vil gjøre dem bedre i stand til å kvalitetssikre og dokumentere emballasjens kjemikalier, migrasjon og egnethet til matkontakt.