Methods and approaches used by FDA to evaluate the safety of food packaging materials

Material Breakthroughs in Smart Food Monitoring: Intelligent Packaging and On-Site Testing Technologies for Spoilage and Contamination Detection

Despite extensive commercial and regulatory interventions, food spoilage and contamination continue to impose massive ramifications on human health and the global economy. Recognizing that such issues will be significantly eliminated by the accurate and timely monitoring of food quality markers, smart food sensors have garnered significant interest as platforms for both real-time, in-package food monitoring and on-site commercial testing. In both cases, the sensitivity, stability, and efficiency of the developed sensors are largely informed by underlying material design, driving focus toward the creation of advanced materials optimized for such applications. Herein, a comprehensive review of emerging intelligent materials and sensors developed in this space is provided, through the lens of three key food quality markers - biogenic amines, pH, and pathogenic microbes. Each sensing platform is presented with targeted consideration toward the contributions of the underlying metallic or polymeric substrate to the sensing mechanism and detection performance. Further, the real-world applicability of presented works is considered with respect to their capabilities, regulatory adherence, and commercial potential. Finally, a situational assessment of the current state of intelligent food monitoring technologies is provided, discussing material-centric strategies to address their existing limitations, regulatory concerns, and commercial considerations.

Biopolymer Food Packaging Films Incorporated with Essential Oils

Petroleum-based packaging materials are typically nonbiodegradable, which leads to significant adverse environmental and health issues. Therefore, developing novel efficient, biodegradable, and nontoxic food packaging film materials has attracted increasing attention from researchers. Due to significant research and advanced technology, synthetic additives in packaging materials are progressively replaced with natural substances such as essential oils (EOs). EOs demonstrate favorable antioxidant and antibacterial properties, which would be an economical and effective alternative to synthetic additives. This review summarized the possible antioxidant and antimicrobial mechanisms of various EOs. We analyzed the properties and performance of food packaging films based on various biopolymers incorporated with EOs. The progress in intelligent packaging materials has been discussed as a prospect of food packaging materials. Finally, the current challenges regarding the practical application of EOs-containing biopolymer films in food packaging and areas of future research have been summarized.

IgY antibodies: The promising potential to overcome antibiotic resistance

Antibiotic resistant bacteria are a growing threat to global health security. Whilst the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a natural phenomenon, it is also driven by antibiotic exposure in health care, agriculture, and the environment. Antibiotic pressure and inappropriate use of antibiotics are important factors which drive resistance. Apart from their use to treat bacterial infections in humans, antibiotics also play an important role in animal husbandry. With limited antibiotic options, alternate strategies are required to overcome AMR. Passive immunization through oral, nasal and topical administration of egg yolk-derived IgY antibodies from immunized chickens were recently shown to be effective for treating bacterial infections in animals and humans. Immunization of chickens with specific antigens offers the possibility of creating specific antibodies targeting a wide range of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In this review, we describe the growing global problem of antimicrobial resistance and highlight the promising potential of the use of egg yolk IgY antibodies for the treatment of bacterial infections, particularly those listed in the World Health Organization priority list.

Endocrine disruptor global policy

Over the past several decades, scientific consensus has grown around the concept and evidence for human health impacts from exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). A series of publications have now demonstrated considerable economic costs of EDC exposure-induced adverse health outcomes. This research has suggested economic burdens in the hundreds of billions, even considering only a small subset of EDCs and health. As of yet, regulatory efforts and policies to protect and decrease human exposure to most EDCs have been insufficient and have not kept pace with the science. Given the overwhelming scientific evidence, referenced throughout this collection, as well as the economic costs of inaction, described here, regulations are clearly needed. The EU and some other countries have taken promising steps towards protective regulation of EDCs, though the response of the US and many other countries has been limited or altogether lacking. Regulatory bodies that have and continue to apply risk-based approaches to regulating EDCs have also failed to consider the complete economic impacts of EDC-related health impacts. In this chapter, we will discuss broad strategies taken to regulate EDCs, examine the approaches currently taken to regulate EDCs in a global context (discussing the strengths and weaknesses of these regulations), discuss the economic costs of EDC exposures (detailing where consideration of health and economic costs could improve regulations), and discuss next steps and novel approaches to adapting existing regulatory frameworks to this class of chemicals.

Progresses in Food Packaging, Food Quality, and Safety-Controlled-Release Antioxidant and/or Antimicrobial Packaging

Food packaging is designed to protect foods, to provide required information about the food, and to make food handling convenient for distribution to consumers. Packaging has a crucial role in the process of food quality, safety, and shelf-life extension. Possible interactions between food and packaging are important in what is concerning food quality and safety. This review tries to offer a picture of the most important types of active packaging emphasizing the controlled/target release antimicrobial and/or antioxidant packaging including system design, different methods of polymer matrix modification, and processing. The testing methods for the appreciation of the performance of active food packaging, as well as mechanisms and kinetics implied in active compounds release, are summarized. During the last years, many fast advancements in packaging technology appeared, including intelligent or smart packaging (IOSP), (i.e., time-temperature indicators (TTIs), gas indicators, radiofrequency identification (RFID), and others). Legislation is also discussed.

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals: economic, regulatory, and policy implications

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) substantially cost society as a result of increases in disease and disability but-unlike other toxicant classes such as carcinogens-have yet to be codified into regulations as a hazard category. This Series paper examines economic, regulatory, and policy approaches to limit human EDC exposures and describes potential improvements. In the EU, general principles for EDCs call for minimisation of human exposure, identification as substances of very high concern, and ban on use in pesticides. In the USA, screening and testing programmes are focused on oestrogenic EDCs exclusively, and regulation is strictly risk-based. Minimisation of human exposure is unlikely without a clear overarching definition for EDCs and relevant pre-marketing test requirements. We call for a multifaceted international programme (eg, modelled on the International Agency for Research in Cancer) to address the effects of EDCs on human health-an approach that would proactively identify hazards for subsequent regulation.

Endocrine disrupting chemicals and other substances of concern in food contact materials: an updated review of exposure, effect and risk assessment

Food contact materials (FCM) are an underestimated source of chemical food contaminants and a potentially relevant route of human exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Quantifying the exposure of the general population to substances from FCM relies on estimates of food consumption and leaching into food. Recent studies using polycarbonate plastics show that food simulants do not always predict worst-case leaching of bisphenol A, a common FCM substance. Also, exposure of children to FCM substances is not always realistically predicted using the common conventions and thus possibly misjudged. Further, the exposure of the whole population to substances leaching into dry foods is underestimated. Consumers are exposed to low levels of substances from FCM across their entire lives. Effects of these compounds currently are assessed with a focus on mutagenicity and genotoxicity. This approach however neglects integrating recent new toxicological findings, like endocrine disruption, mixture toxicity, and developmental toxicity. According to these new toxicology paradigms women of childbearing age and during pregnancy are a new sensitive population group requiring more attention. Furthermore, in overweight and obese persons a change in the metabolism of xenobiotics is observed, possibly implying that this group of consumers is insufficiently protected by current risk assessment practice. Innovations in FCM risk assessment should therefore include routine testing for EDCs and an assessment of the whole migrate toxicity of a food packaging, taking into account all sensitive population groups. In this article I focus on recent issues of interest concerning either exposure to or effects of FCM-related substances. Further, I review the use of benzophenones and organotins, two groups of known or suspected EDCs, in FCM authorized in the US and EU.

Exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds via the food chain: Is packaging a relevant source?

Contamination of foodstuffs by environmental pollutants (e.g. dioxins, metals) receives much attention. Until recently, food packaging as a source of xenobiotics, especially those with endocrine disrupting properties, has received little awareness despite its ubiquitous use. This article reviews the regulations and use of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in food packaging and discusses their presence within the context of new toxicology paradigms. I focused on substances known to be legally used in food packaging that have been shown to exhibit endocrine disruptive effects in biological systems. I compiled a list of 50 known or potential EDCs used in food contact materials and examined data of EDCs leaching from packaging into food, with a focus on nonylphenol. I included recent advances in toxicology: mixture effects, the developmental origins of adult disease hypothesis, low-dose effects, and epigenetics. I especially considered the case of bisphenol A. The core hypothesis of this review is that chemicals leaching from packaging into food contribute to human EDCs exposure and might lead to chronic disease in light of the current knowledge. Food contact materials are a major source of food contaminants. Many migrating compounds, possibly with endocrine disruptive properties, remain unidentified. There is a need for information on identity/quantity of chemicals leaching into food, human exposure, and long-term impact on health. Especially EDCs in food packaging are of concern. Even at low concentrations, chronic exposure to EDCs is toxicologically relevant. Concerns increase when humans are exposed to mixtures of similar acting EDCs and/or during sensitive windows of development. In particular, non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) migrating from food contact materials need toxicological characterization; the overall migrate of the finished packaging could be evaluated for biological effects using bioassays. The widespread legal use of EDCs in food packaging requires dedicated assessment and should be updated according to contemporary scientific knowledge.

Poli(tereftalato de etileno), PET: uma revisão sobre os processos de síntese, mecanismos de degradação e sua reciclagem

Apresentamos uma revisão sobre o poli(tereftalato de etileno) enfatizando os processos de síntese e os mecanismos de degradação. Atualmente o Brasil apresenta um dos maiores índices mundiais de reciclagem mecânica deste polímero, correspondendo a um percentual de 53%. O sucesso desse termoplástico na indústria de reciclagem deve-se à sua ampla diversidade de aplicações, desde a indústria têxtil (multifilamento) até as indústrias de alimentos, onde as embalagens recicladas grau alimentício poderão ser misturadas com a resina virgem em diversas proporções e reprocessadas para o uso. Uma abordagem sobre a atual legislação do uso de PET reciclado em contato com alimentos também é mostrada neste trabalho. No processo de síntese do PET realizado em duas ou três etapas, são usados comonômeros e aditivos para otimizar as condições de processamento do material. Entretanto, tanto durante a síntese como no processo de reciclagem, ocorrem reações de degradação (termomecânica e termo-oxidativa) e reações secundárias, formando acetaldeído, oligômeros, e o dietileno glicol. A presença desses "contaminantes" acelera o processo de degradação do polímero, afetando a qualidade do produto final.

Framework for use of toxicity screening tools in context-based decision-making

One of the principal applications of toxicology data is to inform risk assessments and support risk management decisions that are protective of human health. Ideally, a risk assessor would have available all of the relevant information on (a) the toxicity profile of the agent of interest; (b) its interactions with living systems; and (c) the known or projected exposure scenarios: to whom, how much, by which route(s), and how often. In practice, however, complete information is seldom available. Nonetheless, decisions still must be made. Screening-level assays and tools can provide support for many aspects of the risk assessment process, as long as the limitations of the tools are understood and to the extent that the added uncertainty the tools introduce into the process can be characterized and managed. Use of these tools for decision-making may be an end in itself for risk assessment and decision-making or a preliminary step to more extensive data collection and evaluation before assessments are undertaken or completed and risk management decisions made. This paper describes a framework for the application of screening tools for human health decision-making, although with some modest modification, it could be made applicable to environmental settings as well. The framework consists of problem formulation, development of a screening strategy based on an assessment of critical data needs, and a data analysis phase that employs weight-of-evidence criteria and uncertainty analyses, and leads to context-based decisions. Criteria for determining the appropriate screening tool(s) have been identified. The choice and use of the tool(s) will depend on the question and the level of uncertainty that may be appropriate for the context in which the decision is being made. The framework is iterative, in that users may refine the question(s) as they proceed. Several case studies illustrate how the framework may be used effectively to address specific questions for any endpoint of toxicity.

Migration from can coatings: Part 3. Synthesis, identification and quantification of migrating epoxy-based substances below 1000 Da

Bisphenol A-derived glycidyl ethers as well as its reaction products with other lacquer components can migrate into the packed food from epoxy-based can coatings. A sensitive and selective method is presented using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ultraviolet light, fluorescence and electrospray ionization-mass selective detection for the identification and quantification of all migrants with a bisphenol A backbone and a molecular weight below 1000 Da, an estimated boundary for the absorption in the gastrointestinal tract. The identification of migrants was confirmed by microreactions of technical bisphenol A diglycidyl ether with solvents and phenols, which provided the fragmentation pattern of the mass selective detection and relative retentions of 42 different bisphenol A-related substances. It was shown by calibration of different isolated and synthesized bisphenol A derivatives that the fluorescence response relies on the amount of bisphenol A moiety in the respective molecule. Therefore, all migrating bisphenol A-related substances below 1000 Da were determined as bisphenol A diglycidyl ether equivalents using a calibration (fluorescence detection) of the commercially available bisphenol A diglycidyl ether monomer. The limit of quantification was set at 5 microg bisphenol A diglycidyl ether equivalents kg(-1) (or 0.8 microg dm(-2)). This method was validated for epoxy coatings (0.1 microg dm(-2) limit of detection and 24 microg bisphenol A-related substances below 1000 Da dm(-2) standard deviation, corresponding to 4.4% relative standard deviation). The quantification could be extended by combining the fluorescence response and structural information gained from the mass spectra, which provides more accurate results for each migrant. The calculation is based on the calibration of the bisphenol A chromophore content of the molecule. According to this method, the amount of migrating bisphenol A-related substances below 1000 Da in the acetonitrile extract (assuming a worst case) varied from about 0.4 to 0.7 mg dm(-2) in the examined coatings. The determined amounts comply with about 50% of the total migrate below 1000 Da.

Food Contamination with Organic Materials in Perspective: Packaging Materials as the Largest and Least Controlled Source? A View Focusing on the European Situation

The comparison of the various sources of food contamination with organic chemicals suggests that in the public, but also among experts, the perception of risk is often distorted. Firstly, neither pesticides nor environmental pollutants contribute the most; the amount of material migrating from food packaging into food may well be 100 times higher. Secondly, control of these large migrants is often lagging behind the standards set up for other sources, since many of the components (particularly those not being "starting materials") have not been identified and, thus, not toxicologically evaluated. Finally, attitudes towards different types of food contaminants are divergent, also reflected by the legal measures: for most sources of food contamination there are strict rules calling for minimization, whereas the European packaging industry has even requested a further increase in the tolerance to as close as possible to the limit set by the toxicologists. This paper calls for a more realistic perception and more coherent legal measures-and improvements in the control of migration from packaging material.

Tendências e desafios da reciclagem de embalagens plásticas

No gerenciamento do resíduo sólido urbano (RSU), a reciclagem surge como uma das vias para reduzir os resíduos sólidos aterrados em solo. Os plásticos constituem uma das classes de materiais com menor índice de reciclagem. Neste trabalho, as principais dificuldades encontradas em diversos países para aumentar os índices de reciclagem dos plásticos e as propostas que estão sendo utilizadas para mudar este cenário foram apresentadas. Por último, também foi apresentado um panorama geral sobre as exigências e limitações do retorno do plástico reciclado para alimentos. Este segmento representa todo um nicho de mercado que pode agregar valor e, principalmente, aumentar os índices de reciclagem de modo sustentável desde que haja investimentos em tecnologias inovadoras e economicamente viáveis.

Migration of Substances from Food Packaging Materials to Foods

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.

Contaminants and levels of occurrence in washed and shredded poly(ethylene terephthalate) from curbside collection. Part 1: Extraction conditions

The aim was to determine which contaminants were present in washed and dried shredded poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET, flake) obtained from curbside collection and whether the concentrations were above the US FDA threshold of 215 ppb. Thirty-two semi-volatile contaminants were extracted from the treated flake by Soxhlet extraction using dichloromethane as a PET swelling solvent and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used for identification and quantification. Soxhlet extraction of flake ground to 0-300 pm was effectively completed in 24 h, whereas sonication reduced the extraction time to 3 h. In contrast, Soxhlet extractions of flake ground to a larger particle size range (300-425 pm) were completed in 4 h, possibly due to less aggregation in the extraction thimble. The levels of 26 contaminants were below 215 ppb, but six were not. Dodecanoic acid was present at about 1200 ppb, 2-butoxyethanol was approximately 1000 ppb, limonene, benzophenone and methyl salicylate were above 800 ppb, and 2-methyl-naphthalene near 215 ppb.

Risk assessment in regulatory policy making for human and veterinary public health

Risk assessment is the method of systematically identifying and assessing factors that influence the probability and consequences of a negative event occurring. One responsibility of veterinary medicine is to protect animal and human health. Food animal production uses antibiotics to enhance production. Regulators evaluate new production technology to ensure animal safety and safe, edible products and to make public policy decisions by assessing risks/benefits. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Veterinary Medicine's (CVM's) first risk assessment addressed the potential human health impact of campylobacter effects associated with the use of fluoroquinolines in food-producing animals. CVM used the Monte Carlo method to estimate risk byprobability distributions that reflect the uncertainty and variability in the data used for the assessment. Enterococci faecium is a species more likely to be resistant to antibiotics of last resort. Effective control of multidrug-resistant enterococci will requirea better understanding of the transfer of E. faeciumfrom animals to humans and the interaction between E. faecium, the hospital environment, and humans; prudent antibiotic use; better contact isolation in hospitals; and better surveillance. CVM will model these factors in a second, more complex risk assessment designed to examine the indirect transfer of resistance from animals to humans. Use of risk assessments allows researchers, the industry, regulatory authorities, and educators to make better policy decisions regarding antimicrobial use in food animals and humans and the development of resistance. Today the question of whether the use of antimicrobials for growth enhancement infood animals should or should not be terminated for the benefit of human health remains unresolved.

Simple models for assessing migration from food-packaging films

Owing to their simplicity, two migration models based on Fick's Second Law have been frequently used for the assessment of migration of additives and contaminants from food-packaging films. While the two models are known to provide accurate estimates of diffusion coefficients for complete migration, they could generate considerable estimation errors for significantly partitioned migration. In this paper, the applicability of the two models to partitioned migration is defined by examining the assumptions and derivations of the two models as well as their errors in estimating diffusion coefficients. Furthermore, a simple migration model, based on more realistic assumptions than the two models, is proposed. The proposed model can provide far better estimates of diffusion coefficients for partitioned migration than the two models.

Comprehensive analysis of migrates from food-packaging materials: a challenge

The premise is put forward that present European regulation of food-packaging materials does not provide the assessment for safety corresponding to the opinion of toxicologists that migrants ingested in amounts exceeding a threshold of 1.5 microg day(-1) should be identified and toxicologically evaluated. Many substances that migrate (the large majority of the components migrating from can coatings) are neither starting point materials, nor obvious derivatives therefrom, and are, therefore, not covered by existing systems based on positive lists. Safety presupposes the comprehensive analysis of the migrating substances, ultimately to the limits in terms of concentration and molecular weight considered to he of toxicological concern. This is a new analytical challenge. In this paper, expected problems are discussed, leading to the conclusion that it will be difficult to achieve comprehensive analysis down to the concentrations presently considered safe, but that systematic work should start to define the possibilities and limitations of analytical chemistry for a migrate-oriented coating legislation.

Tests of potential functional barriers for laminated multilayer food packages. Part I: Low molecular weight permeants

The advent of the functional barrier concept in food packaging has brought with it a requirement for fast tests of permeation through potential barrier materials. In such tests it would be convenient for both foodstuffs and materials below the functional barrier (sub-barrier materials) to be represented by standard simulants. By means of inverse gas chromatography, liquid paraffin spiked with appropriate permeants was considered as a potential simulant of sub-barrier materials based on polypropylene (PP) or similar polyolefins. Experiments were performed to characterize the kinetics of the permeation of low molecular weight model permeants (octene, toluene and isopropanol) from liquid paraffin, through a surrogate potential functional barrier (25 microns-thick oriented PP) into the food stimulants olive oil and 3% (w/v) acetic acid. These permeation results were interpreted in terms of three permeation kinetic models regarding the solubility of a particular model permeant in the post-barrier medium (i.e. the food simulant). The results obtained justify the development and evaluation of liquid sub-barrier simulants that would allow flexible yet rigorous testing of new laminated multilayer packaging materials.

Contamination in food from packaging material

Packaging has become an indispensible element in the food manufacturing process, and different types of additives, such as antioxidants, stabilizers, lubricants, anti-static and anti-blocking agents, have also been developed to improve the performance of polymeric packaging materials. Recently the packaging has been found to represent a source of contamination itself through the migration of substances from the packaging into food. Various analytical methods have been developed to analyze the migrants in the foodstuff, and migration evaluation procedures based on theoretical prediction of migration from plastic food contact material were also introduced recently. In this paper, the regulatory control, analytical methodology, factors affecting the migration and migration evaluation are reviewed.

Analysis of volatile radiolysis products in gamma-irradiated LDPE and polypropylene films by thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Low-molecular-weight ('volatile') radiolysis products of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP) films were investigated by thermal desorption-(TDS)-GC-MS after absorbed doses of up to 25 kGy. The films produce fingerprint chromatograms with highly characteristic patterns of groups of radiation-induced peaks; these are mainly hydrocarbons, aldehydes, ketones, and carboxylic acids with concentrations (after 25 kGy) ca one order of magnitude below that of the residual hydrocarbons (oligomers). PP additionally produces very substantial amounts of three degradation products of phenol-type antioxidants. The low molecular-weight (MW) radiolysis products are retained for considerable times in LDPE films and they are retained in PP films much longer than had been expected. Besides product identification, the following topics are addressed: Effects of the absorbed dose and the desorption temperature; comparison of several commercial (proprietary) films; high-temperature thermal desorption; the question whether TDS analyzes radiation-induced artifacts rather than genuine products; the possible existence of cyclic radiolysis products; the possibility of identifying an LDPE film as irradiated after a dose of only 1 kGy; and atypical trace fragments of antioxidants. Finally, the geometry and efficiency of the thermal desorption system is briefly discussed, and the implications of our findings for irradiation detection and for the safety of irradiated materials are considered.

The migration from the internal coatings of food cans; summary of the findings and call for more effective regulation of polymers in contact with foods: a review

The analysis of migrates from the internal coatings of food cans showed that the present regulation is not sufficient to ensure safety of food contact polymers. The migrates often consist of complex mixtures of reaction products and impurities, and their harmlessness cannot be deduced from the use of non-toxic starting substances compiled in positive lists. The regulation proposed herein asks producers to analyse the composition of the migrates. It includes an upper limit for the molecular weight (e.g. 1000 Da) and thresholds defining concentrations in the foods down to which components must be identified and evaluated. Primarily considering feasibility at reasonable costs, thresholds of 30 micrograms/kg for individual components and 300 micrograms/kg for the sum of the unidentified materials are proposed. Producers must be able to demonstrate that the individual components or mixtures exceeding this limit, including reaction products with food components, have no toxic effect.

Assessing the suitability of recycled plastics used as agricultural soil covers: migration study and experimental harvest

The present work is focused on evaluating the suitability of recycling postconsumer agricultural plastic films again for the same use. The criteria to assess the suitability was based on migration study. Both overall and specific migration tests were performed, and the results obtained (ranging from 0.14 to 1.27 mg/dm(2) for overall migration and from not detectable to 6.98 microg/dm(2) for specific migration) show how, from this point of view, the recycled material can be safely proposed to be used again as agricultural soil covers. A theoretical discussion about the migration process is also presented and a simple mathematical model was applied to the data obtained, showing how total migration which is experimentally detected is theoretically predictable. These conclusions found were used to design and develop a controlled crop of tomato by using this recycled film. The use of the recycled plastic in the whole process and the behavior and properties of the pesticides absorbed in the postconsumer film are discussed.