Polymeric materials for dry food handling management: assessment of the migration level

Plastics are widely used in the food industry, such as in food containers and packaging. However, the direct contact between the material and the food, and in many cases also the indirect one, causes the transfer of low molecular weight compounds (additives, pesticide residues, mycotoxins, flavourings and micronutrients), which are chronically ingested by consumers generating a bioaccumulation effect. Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/1245 on plastic materials and articles, intended to come into contact with food, states that potential health risks in food contact products must be assessed by the manufacturer, in accordance with internationally recognized principles of risk assessment. In this context, permissible migration limits depend on the toxicity of the migrant and the potential extent of consumer exposure to the migrant itself. The legislation is actually narrowed: in fact, it allows to properly simulate the behaviour of packaging materials in contact with liquid or moist food, but there are only few scientific works in the literature concerning the contact with dry food. Therefore, scientific evidence is required to enrich the knowledge and to implement the current legislation. The goal of this study is to characterize materials obtained by varying the production processes following the principles of green chemistry, in order to verify the release from the material contaminants by means of the contact with the food simulant. In particular, the project is divided into three phases: development of analysis methods, production of modified materials and migration tests. Migration tests are carried out using a food simulant and the techniques suitable for analytes quantification are GC-MS, HPLC-MS and ESI-MS. However, some aspects required to be optimized: in fact, the food simulant needs to be accurately washed before the use and between the contact tests and to be verified and approved for reusability, while the protocol for obtaining a food simulant suitable for the use in migration tests is not indicated in the regulations.