Report of ESCO WG on non‐plastic Food Contact Materials

A critical review of test methods and alternative scientific approaches to compliance and safety evaluation of paper and board for food contact

Paper and board are widely used as food contact materials. For such sensitive applications, consumer safety regarding the transfer of chemical components and contaminants to the food needs to be established. Such safety assessments are becoming increasingly challenging not only due to intentionally added substances but also non-intentionally added substances. In the European Union, compliance testing and safety evaluation of paper in food contact are largely based on national legislation and standards. The underlying tests are conventional methods, often overestimating and sometimes underestimating the migration into food. In this article, the relevant standard test methods are contrasted with currently available scientific knowledge. The scientific approaches to develop and identify suitable test methods are critically reviewed. Furthermore, theoretical predictions via mathematical modeling, with the aim to realistically simulate transfer to food, are presented and discussed in comparison with available migration studies with foods. Objectives are to (i) summarize the actual scientific knowledge in the field and draw conclusions regarding the potential and limitations of the existing test methods and (ii) identify research gaps toward a better qualitative and quantitative understanding of transport processes of volatile and non-volatile substances from paper and board into foods.

Study on the chemical behaviour of Bisphenol S during the in vitro gastrointestinal digestion and its bioaccessibility

This study evaluated the chemical behaviour of Bisphenol S (BPS) and determined its bioaccessibility after human ingestion using a standardised in vitro gastrointestinal digestion protocol and an analytical method based on high-pressure liquid chromatography coupled with a photodiode array and tandem mass spectrometry. The effects of different factors such as gastric pH, enzymes, and food matrix on the solubility and chemical stability of BPS were studied to evaluate their contribution to its bioaccessibility. The results highlighted that BPS was available at the end of the digestion process in the range of 50-80%, and was susceptible to absorption at the intestinal level. The effect of pH was not significant as a single factor. The presence of enzymes slightly decreased the bioaccessibility of BPS in the intestinal phase with gastric pH increase. Additionally, a soy drink reduced BPS bioaccessibility by up to 5% after oral intake. Finally, a few BPS degradation products were found in non-bioaccessible fractions at different pH values.