Approach to stochastic modelling of consumer exposure for any substance from canned foods using simulant migration data

A probabilistic approach to model bisphenol A (BPA) migration from packaging to meat products

Bisphenol A (BPA), a synthetic chemical which has raised concerns due to its potential toxicological effects on humans, has been widely detected in canned and non-canned meat and meat products. This study estimated BPA migration from packaging to non-canned and canned meat products by developing two probabilistic models. BPA concentration data in packaging materials were collated, including polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride, epoxy-based coatings, and polyester-based coatings. Migration ratios were calculated from migration tests of BPA molecules moving from packaging to food simulants. The predictive model revealed that the BPA migration concentration from packaging ranges from 0.017 to 0.13 (5th-95th percentile) μg kg-1 with a simulated mean of 0.056 μg kg-1 in non-canned meat products. This is in stark contrast to the simulated mean of 134.57 (5th-95th percentile: 59.17-223.25) μg kg-1 for canned meat products. Nevertheless, plastic packaging was estimated to contribute only 3 % of BPA levels in non-canned meat products. The sensitivity analysis showed that the contact area of meat products with films is the most sensitive parameter of the plastic packaging migration model. It is concluded that plastic packaging may not be the only or dominant source of BPA in non-canned meat products.

Current approaches and challenges of sample preparation procedures for the safety assessment of paper and cardboard food contact materials: A comprehensive review

In the European Union (EU), Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 provides a harmonized legal EU framework and sets out the general principles for safety and inertness for all Food Contact Materials (FCMs) and Food Contact Articles. From a food safety point of view, however, specific EU legislation for paper and cardboard FCMs is lacking, while at Member State level, national legislation differs among countries. More than 11,000 chemicals have been identified in all types of FCMs, most of them without any information on toxicity or migration potential from FCM to food. The present review shows a wide variability of protocols, approaches, and conditions used in scientific studies, which are difficult to compare. In this regard, procedures and conditions laid down in EU legislation for plastics and European Standards (EN protocols) may serve as a good basis for the future sample preparation procedures in the framework of paper and cardboard FCMs safety assessment. Challenges on sample preparation procedures are presented involving the interlinked steps of sample preparation, conditions used and their impact in chemical analysis and in vitro bioassay testing. Currently, there is no general consensus on the criteria for structuring, evaluating, and tuning sample preparation procedures for paper and cardboard FCMs. For this purpose, a set of modified criteria and a decision tree are proposed based on the literature. Along this, mass transfer processes occurring in paper and cardboard FCMs and parameters affecting chemical migration need to be accounted for prior to reaching general consensus on criteria for sample preparation procedures.

Migration of food contact substances into dry foods: A review

A comprehensive review of the literature was performed on migration of substances from packaging materials into dry foods, specifically those with surfaces containing no free fats or oils. Historically, migration from food packaging to dry foods has been assumed to be minimal. However, several recent publications have reported concentrations of migrants into dry foods that are substantially higher than anticipated. The goal of this review is to provide a comprehensive summary of recent studies that examined migration to dry foods or dry food simulants, observe and assess common migrants, and report the highest migration values. Focusing on the packaging materials and migrants that exhibit the highest migration values, this review divided the studies into two categories: 1) analysis of food products in commercial packaging taken directly from grocery store shelves, and 2) analysis of food products and food simulants in contact with packaging or other material fortified with known quantities of a migrant. Discussions include the examination of migration testing methods, viability of different food simulants, and variables that affect migration behaviour. These include the physicochemical properties of both the migrant and food (i.e. volatility, molecular size, structure, food composition and particle size) and factors pertaining to the packaging material and the environment (i.e. temperature, humidity, and the presence of a secondary barrier). Information gaps and remaining questions are also identified and discussed.

Correlation of foodstuffs with ethanol-water mixtures with regard to the solubility of migrants from food contact materials

Today most foods are available in a packed form. During storage, the migration of chemical substances from food packaging materials into food may occur and may therefore be a potential source of consumer exposure. To protect the consumer, standard migration tests are laid down in Regulation (EU) No. 10/2011. When using those migration tests and applying additional conservative conventions, estimated exposure is linked with large uncertainties including a certain margin of safety. Thus the research project FACET was initiated within the 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission with the aim of developing a probabilistic migration modelling framework which allows one (1) to calculate migration into foods under real conditions of use; and (2) to deliver realistic concentration estimates for consumer exposure modelling for complex packaging materials (including multi-material multilayer structures). The aim was to carry out within the framework of the FACET project a comprehensive systematic study on the solubility behaviour of foodstuffs for potentially migrating organic chemicals. Therefore a rapid and convenient method was established to obtain partition coefficients between polymer and food, KP/F. With this method approximately 700 time-dependent kinetic experiments from spiked polyethylene films were performed using model migrants, foods and ethanol-water mixtures. The partition coefficients of migrants between polymer and food (KP/F) were compared with those obtained using ethanol-water mixtures (KP/F's) to investigate whether an allocation of food groups with common migration behaviour to certain ethanol-water mixtures could be made. These studies have confirmed that the solubility of a migrant is mainly dependent on the fat content in the food and on the ethanol concentration of ethanol-water mixtures. Therefore dissolution properties of generic food groups for migrants can be assigned to those of ethanol-water mixtures. All foodstuffs (including dry foods) when allocated to FACET model food group codes can be classified into a reduced number of food categories each represented by a corresponding ethanol-water equivalency.

Estimates of dietary exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) from light metal packaging using food consumption and packaging usage data: a refined deterministic approach and a fully probabilistic (FACET) approach

The FACET tool is a probabilistic model to estimate exposure to chemicals in foodstuffs, originating from flavours, additives and food contact materials. This paper demonstrates the use of the FACET tool to estimate exposure to BPA (bisphenol A) from light metal packaging. For exposure to migrants from food packaging, FACET uses industry-supplied data on the occurrence of substances in the packaging, their concentrations and construction of the packaging, which were combined with data from a market research organisation and food consumption data supplied by national database managers. To illustrate the principles, UK packaging data were used together with consumption data from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) dietary survey for 19-64 year olds for a refined deterministic verification. The UK data were chosen mainly because the consumption surveys are detailed, data for UK packaging at a detailed level were available and, arguably, the UK population is composed of high consumers of packaged foodstuffs. Exposures were run for each food category that could give rise to BPA from light metal packaging. Consumer loyalty to a particular type of packaging, commonly referred to as packaging loyalty, was set. The BPA extraction levels used for the 15 types of coating chemistries that could release BPA were in the range of 0.00005-0.012 mg dm(-2). The estimates of exposure to BPA using FACET for the total diet were 0.0098 (mean) and 0.0466 (97.5th percentile) mg/person/day, corresponding to 0.00013 (mean) and 0.00059 (97.5th percentile) mg kg(-1) body weight day(-1) for consumers of foods packed in light metal packaging. This is well below the current EFSA (and other recognised bodies) TDI of 0.05 mg kg(-1) body weight day(-1). These probabilistic estimates were compared with estimates using a refined deterministic approach drawing on the same input data. The results from FACET for the mean, 95th and 97.5th percentile exposures to BPA lay between the lowest and the highest estimates from the refined deterministic calculations. Since this should be the case, for a fully probabilistic compared with a deterministic approach, it is concluded that the FACET tool has been verified in this example. A recent EFSA draft opinion on exposure to BPA from different sources showed that canned foods were a major contributor and compared results from various models, including those from FACET. The results from FACET were overall conservative.

Feasibility study on the use of probabilistic migration modeling in support of exposure assessment from food contact materials

The use of probabilistic approaches in exposure assessments of contaminants migrating from food packages is of increasing interest but the lack of concentration or migration data is often referred as a limitation. Data accounting for the variability and uncertainty that can be expected in migration, for example, due to heterogeneity in the packaging system, variation of the temperature along the distribution chain, and different time of consumption of each individual package, are required for probabilistic analysis. The objective of this work was to characterize quantitatively the uncertainty and variability in estimates of migration. A Monte Carlo simulation was applied to a typical solution of the Fick's law with given variability in the input parameters. The analysis was performed based on experimental data of a model system (migration of Irgafos 168 from polyethylene into isooctane) and illustrates how important sources of variability and uncertainty can be identified in order to refine analyses. For long migration times and controlled conditions of temperature the affinity of the migrant to the food can be the major factor determining the variability in the migration values (more than 70% of variance). In situations where both the time of consumption and temperature can vary, these factors can be responsible, respectively, for more than 60% and 20% of the variance in the migration estimates. The approach presented can be used with databases from consumption surveys to yield a true probabilistic estimate of exposure.

Estimation of exposure to food-packaging materials. 2: Patterns of intakes of packaged foods in Irish Children aged 5–12 years

In the European Union (EU), many assumptions are employed to calculate the intake of migrating chemicals from food packaging. However, very little is known about the actual intake of packaged food, the type of this food and the type of packaging used for this food. The objective of the current study was to examine intakes of packaged food in children aged 5-12 years to provide information on the types of food that are packaged and the type of packaging used. To do this, a food-consumption database, which also recorded information on packaging, was merged with a packaging database, which provided information on the contact layers of packaging. Foods were classified into EU Food categories according to European Council Directive EC 85/575/EEC (European Council 1985), which determined their food type (i.e. aqueous, acidic, alcoholic and fatty). The mean daily intake of all packaged food was 1195 g day-1 with an upper intake of 1959 g day-1 (97.5th percentile); the intake of food packaged in plastic was 993 g day-1 with an upper percentile of 1692 g day-1 (97.5th percentile). The mean daily intake of fat from all packaged food was 62 g day-1, with an upper intake of 100 g day-1 (97.5th percentile). When this was investigated further, it was found that the mean fat intake from packaged 'fatty' foods only was 32 g day-1, with an upper intake of 61 g day-1 (97.5th percentile). The food that contributed most to fat intake was milk. As many food chemical intake assessments are moving towards probabilistic methods, probabilities of a food being packaged and the probability of the type of packaging used were determined. The probability of food being packaged was 0.88. Some foods not 100% packaged included fruit, vegetables, liquid beverages non-alcoholic (includes water) and bread. Probabilities were also derived for the packaging types used for food. It can be concluded that not all the individual assumptions used in the EU exposure assessment are conservative, but in combination they are conservative.