The Use of Tenax® as a Simulant for the Migration of Contaminants in Dry Foodstuffs: A Review

Abstract

Packaging materials are found to represent a source of contamination through the migration of substances from the packaging into the foodstuff. As a response to an increasing number of food‐safety issues, research on the migration of chemicals from packaging materials into foodstuffs is being conducted. Moreover, packaging materials are tested for the migration of chemicals through migration experiments, using food simulants. EU Regulation N°10/2011 on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food specifies the use of the adsorbent poly(2,6‐diphenylphenylene oxide) or Tenax® as a simulant for dry foodstuffs. Already in 2010, Tenax® migration profiles in the temperature range between −18 and 40°C were modelled for some compounds. Since then, numerous studies have been reported on the migration and migration kinetics of a series of contaminants such as alkylbenzenes, antioxidants, fatty acid esters, isothiazolinone biocides, photo‐initiators, mineral oil and phthalates in Tenax®. In some of these studies, the migration to Tenax® has been compared to real foodstuffs or alternative simulants. In this contribution, the performance of Tenax® as food simulant for dry foodstuffs will be discussed, thereby comparing its performance with real foodstuffs and other potential adsorbents that can be used as simulant such as Porapak.

Bioplastic Fibers from Gum Arabic for Greener Food Wrapping Applications

“…The major factors governing the migration of constituents into food are the physicochemical properties (density, crystallinity, cross-linking, branching, and glass transition temperature) of the packing materials, the nature of the migratory species, the quality of the simulant (size, shape, and charge), and temperature. , Bioplastic fibers [GA (U), GA (P), and GA (γ)] were tested with regard to migration of components into a food stimulant such as Tenax, so as to mimic the migration into dry foods, e.g., cereal. − The observed food contact migration values for GA (U), GA (γ), and GA (P) were determined to be 4.8 ± 1.2, 4.2 ± 0.9, and 3.0 ± 0.8 mg/dm 2 , respectively. Results indicated that, for all three bioplastic variations tested, the migration intensities are under the limit (below 10 mg/dm 2 ) set by European Union legislation .…”

The behaviour of Tenax as food simulant in the migration of polymer additives from food contact materials by means of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and PARAFAC

“…The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has created a document about the migration from non-plastic food contact materials [23]. Paper and board can be treated as monolayer plastic packaging materials because the diffusion rate decreases with the increase in the molecular weight of the migrants [ 24] although the transfer into the foodstuff could happen much faster in the paper material than the migration from plastics [16].…”

“…On the other hand, Tenax should not be recommended as a food simulant for temperature up to 150ºC. In this case, the adsorbent Porapak could be used [16,17,18]. The European Reference Laboratory for Food Contact Materials (EURL-FCM) performed an…”

Migration of mineral oil hydrocarbons from contaminated paperboard into the food simulants Tenax and Sorb‐Star—A comparison

“…Eicher et al 30 have already postulated that there are differences in the sorption power of materials due to differences in particle size (distribution), material and porosity. van den Houwe et al 35 A more detailed look on the data revealed a shift in the ratio between the fractions towards less volatile substances when using enhanced temperatures, which might lead to an overestimation of the migration under some circumstances. As a result, we recommended against using test conditions with temperatures > 40 C without a profound knowledge of the underlying 'real-life' transport processes.…”