Required barrier efficiency of internal bags against the migration from recycled paperboard packaging into food: a benchmark

An overview of paper and paper based food packaging materials: health safety and environmental concerns

Pulp and paper industry is one of the major sector in every country of the globe contributing not only to Gross Domestic Product but surprisingly to environmental pollution and health hazards also. Paper and paperboard based material is the one of the earliest and largest used packaging form for food products like milk and milk based products, beverages, dry powders, confectionary, bakery products etc. owing to its eco-friendly hallmark. Various toxic chemicals like printing inks, phthalates, surfactants, bleaching agents, hydrocarbons etc. are incorporated in the paper during its development process which leaches into the food chain during paper production, food consumption and recycling through water discharges. Recycling is considered the best option for replenishing the loss to environment but paper can be recycled maximum six to seven times and paper industry waste is very diverse in nature and composition. Various paper disposal methods like incineration, landfilling, pyrolysis and composting are available but their process optimization becomes a barrier. This review article aims at discussing in detail the use of paper and paper based packaging materials for food applications and painting a wide picture of various health and environmental issues related to the usage of paper and paper based packaging material in food industry. A brief comparison of the environmental aspects of paper production, recycling and its disposal options (incineration and land filling) had also been discussed.

The Ubiquitous Issue of Cross-Mass Transfer: Applications to Single-Use Systems

The leaching of chemicals by materials has been integrated into risk management procedures of many sectors where hygiene and safety are important, including food, medical, pharmaceutical, and biotechnological applications. The approaches focus on direct contact and do not usually address the risk of cross-mass transfer of chemicals from one item or object to another and finally to the contacting phase (e.g., culture medium, biological fluids). Overpackaging systems, as well as secondary or ternary containers, are potentially large reservoirs of non-intentionally added substances (NIAS), which can affect the final risk of contamination. This study provides a comprehensive description of the cross-mass transfer phenomena for single-use bags along the chain of value and the methodology to evaluate them numerically on laminated and assembled systems. The methodology is validated on the risk of migration i) of ϵ-caprolactam originating from the polyamide 6 internal layer of the overpackaging and ii) of nine surrogate migrants with various volatilities and polarities. The effects of imperfect contacts between items and of an air gap between them are particularly discussed and interpreted as a cutoff distance depending on the considered substance. A probabilistic description is suggested to define conservative safety-margins required to manage cross-contamination and NIAS in routine.