The future of simulants in compliance testing regarding the migration from food contact materials into food

Migration of two antioxidants from packaging into a solid food and into Tenax®

“…Therefore, according to the legislation, results of migration tests into foods prevail over results of migration tests into simulants. It is recognised that the use of food simulants in testing migration from food-contact materials is an approximation with decreasing relevance as the analytical capabilities of measuring migrants in food increases (Grob, 2008). However, it still remains an important tool particularly for routine control in industries.…”

Migration of phthalates, alkylphenols, bisphenol A and di(2-ethylhexyl)adipate from food packaging

“…Relating to the food contact materials (FCM), four liquid simulants are described: distilled water for aqueous foods with a pH above 4.5; acetic acid at 3% in distilled water for acidic aqueous food with pH below 4.5; ethanol at 15% for alcoholic food and oil for fatty food. Considering that the packaging, the storage temperature and the contact time between food packaging and food are the most important parameters for the migration of contaminants into food, the best migration test conditions are 40 C for 10 days (Extreme Conditions or EC) concerning storage at room temperature for indefinite time (Grob, 2008). Testing migration conditions are currently described again in Regulation 10/2011 that replaced old directives.…”

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

“…Analyzing migrants directly in foods is difficult due to the complexity of food matrices. However, consumers are exposed to chemicals in actual foods, and the approximation using food simulants can over-or under-estimate actual exposure levels [4]. Another possibility is to calculate migration using partitioning models; this is commonly done however only for additives [5].…”