Survey of plasticizers migrating from the gaskets of lids into oily food in glass jars: The second European enforcement campaign shows poor compliance work

Conclusions from a Swiss official control of the safety assessment for food contact polyolefins through the compliance documentation of the producers

Swiss control authorities checked the safety assessment of nine major producers of polyolefin granulates for making food contact materials. It was a pilot project to gain experience on the procedure of collecting and evaluating compliance documentation, but also to obtain insight into the quality of compliance work performed by the main plastic producers. It revealed that there are fundamental problems in performing such control. These are reported with proposals for improvement. For most products, the safety assessment made available did not correspond to the requirements, as confirmed by a group of internationally recognised experts, who were asked for their opinion on whether the safety of the migrates was assessed in accordance to 'internationally accepted scientific methods on risk assessment', as required by Art. 19 of Regulation (EU) 10/2011 and specified by EFSA.

Supercritical fluid extraction effectively removes phthalate plasticizers in spores of Ganoderma lucidum

Phthalate plasticizers residue in food is a serious threat to public health. Spores of Ganoderma lucidum are easy to be contaminated with phthalates during collection and processing. In this study, supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) was performed to remove phthalates in spores of G. lucidum, and the effects on acid and peroxide values of spores' oil were also evaluated. The results showed SFE removed 100% of the residual di-iso-butyl phthalate, di-n-butyl phthalate and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate in the spores of G. lucidum. No significant differences in polysaccharides content and fatty acid composition were observed between SFE and control spores. However, the triterpenoid extracts of SFE spores had a 7.45% increase, significantly higher than that in control spores. Accelerated oxidation tests further implied that SFE could improve the stability of spores' oil. Our results suggested SFE is a potential approach to remove phthalate from food related products.

Migration of epoxidized soybean oil from polyvinyl chloride/polyvinylidene chloride food packaging wraps into food simulants

Epoxidized soybean oil (ESBO) has been used in polyvinyl chloride (PVC)/polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) food packaging cling film as a plasticizer and stabilizer. The aim of this study was to investigate the migration of ESBO from PVC/PVDC cling film, based on gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The specific migration of ESBO was evaluated using various food simulants (water, 4% acetic acid, 50% ethanol and n-heptane) for PVC and PVDC wrap products. ESBO did not migrate into water and 4% acetic acid for all the tested samples. However, it was released into 50% ethanol and n-heptane in several PVC/PVDC wraps, with maximum migration levels of 38.4 ± 0.7 and 37.4 ± 0.8 μg/mL, respectively. These results demonstrate that ESBO is capable of being released from PVC/PVDC wrap into amphiphilic/oily food and its migration should be regularly monitored.

Detection of phthalates migration from disposable tablewares to drinking water using hexafluoroisopropanol-induced catanionic surfactant coacervate extraction

Hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP)-induced sodium dodecyl sulfate/dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (SDS/DTAB) catanionic surfactant coacervate extraction method coupled with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to detect the migration of phthalates from disposable tablewares to drinking water. The concentration factors are larger than 82 and extraction recoveries over 53% for water samples spiked with 100 or 200 ng/mL phthalates. Limit of detection is in the range of 1.0-2.6 ng/mL. Good linearity with correlation coefficients larger than 0.9985 is obtained in the concentration of 20-1500 or 40-3000 ng/mL. Relative recoveries are from 82.4% to 123.6% for water samples spiked with 30/60, 250/500, and 1500/3000 ng/mL phthalates, respectively. Relative standard deviations (RSDs) are 0.4%-7.4% for intraday precision (n=5) and 0.6%-7.8% for interday precision (n=3). Four of studied phthalates are found in the drinking water samples prepared from four kinds of tablewares.

Multiresidual LC-MS analysis of plasticizers used in PVC gaskets of lids and assessment of their migration into food sauces

Plasticizers may migrate from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gaskets into the foodstuffs mainly by direct contact during the packaging and sterilization procedure, but also by means of occasional contacts occurring during shipment and storage. The present work reports a reliable liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method able to quantify the main plasticizers used in the PVC closure gaskets for metal lids to verify their compliance in both food contact materials and foodstuffs. The atmospheric pressure chemical ionization in the positive ion mode resulted the best performing interface for the multiresidual detection of the plasticizers taken into account, followed by selected/multiple reaction monitoring, selected ion monitoring or full scan experiments, depending on the compounds to detect. The method was single-laboratory validated, demonstrating to reach a good sensitivity, thus making possible to perform analysis without any preliminary sample purification or concentration step. It proved to be effectively applicable not only for the determination of plasticizers in PVC gaskets but also in complex food matrices. In particular, it was applied for monitoring plasticizer migration into sauces placed in contact with the lids in worst storage conditions, observing therefore their trend during the shelf-life. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Migration of epoxidised soybean oil from PVC gaskets of commercial lids: simulation of migration under various conditions and screening of food products from Czech markets

Previous studies have shown that a large number of polyvinylchloride (PVC) lid gaskets exceed the existing migration limits for epoxidised soybean oil (ESBO) and correct prediction of ESBO release into food therefore appears to be a difficult issue. ESBO migration from PVC gaskets of metal closures into food simulants and food products from the Czech market is evaluated during a survey in 2009 and subsequently one in 2012 to assess progress in lid manufacturing and official testing conditions. ESBO migration from lids into various food simulants was studied at various temperatures (25, 40 and 60°C) during storage times up to 12 months. ESBO released into food simulants or food products was transmethylated, derivatised and analysed by GC-MS. The levels of ESBO migration in foodstuffs in 2012 exceeded the specific migration limit (SML) in fewer products in comparison with the previous survey. However, most of the products were analysed at a time far from the expiry date and exceedance of the SML at the end of the product shelf life is not therefore excluded. More severe test conditions (60°C for 10 days) for specific migration given by the current European Union legislation (Regulation (EU) No. 10/2011) still seem to be insufficient for the simulation of ESBO migration during long-term storage.