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Evaluation of e-beam, gamma- and X-ray treatment on the chemistry and safety of polymers used with pre-packaged irradiated foods: a review.

Polymers used to package food intended for irradiation must currently receive separate US FDA approvals for e-beam, gamma and X-radiation. The three forms of irradiation have virtually indistinguishable effects on polymers held in vacuum. However, in air, irradiation damage is favoured by slow dose rates, such as that characteristic of gamma irradiation. Irrespective of irradiation type, theory and existing polymer irradiation literature both suggest that radiolytic products in food contact polymers should not present a health hazard due to migration into the foods they contain. Equations are presented which calculate the FDA allowable content of radiolytic products to achieve 'threshold of regulation' clearance and conversion of radiolytic yield values (G-values) into ppb concentration in the treated polymer in conformance with FDA practice. An approach to quantifying the functional barrier of a polymer is discussed.

Electrons↗

Applications of metal-organic frameworks in smart packaging for food freshness indication: a comprehensive review.

Smart packaging is extensively studied for its multifunctional capabilities in antimicrobial activity, preservation, and atmosphere modification. Recently emerged metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) freshness-indicating packaging becomes a key research direction in smart packaging owing to its distinctive functions and physicochemical properties. As multifunctional materials, the unique porous structure and tunable properties of MOFs provide a distinctive approach for developing food packaging applications dedicated to food freshness indication. Existing MOFs-based smart packaging still faces potential safety risks and technical challenges in practical applications, and there remains a lack of integrated discussion that combines synthesis strategies, packaging design, optimization, and safety assessment. This review elaborates on the application of MOFs in freshness-indicating smart packaging, focusing on diverse MOFs synthesis strategies, the formats of smart packaging, types of indicator signals, and qualitative/quantitative analytical methods. It also delves into the methodology concepts of MOFs-based smart packaging and evaluates MOFs safety in food packaging by addressing potential risks. Studies show that MOFs-based smart packaging achieves qualitative and semi-quantitative analysis of food freshness through multiple signal modalities such as visible color change, fluorescence, and photothermal effects. This review emphasizes that safe MOFs design is critically important and should comply with the overall migration limit of <10 mg/dm2 specified in Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004, lanthanide element limit of <0.05 mg/kg, and FDA threshold of 1.5 &#x3bc;g/person/day. Comprehensive safety assessment and intelligent sensing platforms will constitute pivotal directions for advancing MOFs-based smart packaging toward practical application.

Food Packaging↗

Status of nutrition labeling, health claims, and nutrient content claims for processed foods: 1997 Food Label and Package Survey.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducts studies of food labels as part of its ongoing monitoring of the nutritional status of the US population. In 1994 FDA nutrition labeling rules were implemented and in 1997 the Food Label and Package Survey characterized various aspects of the labeling of processed, packaged foods, including nutrition labeling, health claims, and nutrient content claims. For the survey, FDA selected a multistage, representative sample of food products from the SCAN-TRACK food sales database (AC Nielsen Co, Schaumburg, Ill). FDA identified 58 product groups and selected those product classes from the database that accounted for 80% of sales in each group. From each product class, FDA selected the 3 top-selling product brands and randomly selected follower brands. Based on label information from a final sample of 1,267 food products, FDA determined the percentage of products sold that bear Nutrition Facts labels, health claims, and nutrient content claims. The purpose of this article was to present FDA findings regarding the status of food labels 3 years after implementation of the nutrition labeling rules. Nutrition-labeled products accounted for an estimated 96.5% of the annual sales of processed, packaged foods. An additional 3.4% of products sold were exempt from labeling regulations. Nutrient content claims and health claims appeared on an estimated 39% and 4%, respectively, of the products sold. Dietitians and other health care professionals can use this survey information to identify food types with specific label information and to assist the US consumer in making more varied and healthful food choices in the marketplace.

Food Labeling↗

Nutrition and related claims used on packaged Australian foods--implications for regulation.

The aim of this study was to describe the use of nutrition and related claims on packaged food for sale in Australia and measure the compliance of such claims with regulations governing their use. A survey was conducted of the labelling of 6662 products in 40 different food categories on sale in New South Wales in 2001. Levels of compliance were assessed by comparing the claims on the label and data in the nutrition information panel with requirements of the Foods Standards Code and the Code of Practice on Nutrient Claims. Half of the products (51.3%) carried some type of nutrition related claim and 36.2% made at least one nutrient claim, with an average of 1.2 nutrition related claims on every food product. The foods with the highest use of nutrient claims were sports drinks, breakfast cereals, meat substitutes, pretzels and rice cakes, muesli bars and yoghurt. The most common nutrient claims were for fat, cholesterol, vitamins, minerals, and sugar. More than 20% of products carried claims related to additives. Many nutrient claims (12.9%) did not comply with current regulations, especially those in the voluntary Code of Practice. Adoption of mandatory requirements for all claims within the Food Standards Code may improve the levels of compliance. Implications for the regulation of nutrition and related claims are discussed. The impact of nutrition claims on consumer purchasing and consumption behaviour deserves further study.

Australia↗

Nutrition function, health and related claims on packaged Australian food products--prevalence and compliance with regulations.

Australia and New Zealand are currently reviewing the regulations governing nutrition function, health and related claims on foods. Health claims currently are not permitted on food labels, with one exception. The aim of this study was to describe the use of such claims on packaged food for sale in Australia (excluding nutrient content claims) prior to any changes to the regulations, and measure compliance with existing regulations. A survey was conducted of the labelling of 7850 products (including multiple pack sizes of individual foods) in 47 different food categories on sale in New South Wales in 2003. A total of 2098 nutrition function, health or related claims and 12 therapeutic claims were recorded. Fourteen percent of products carried some sort of claim. If nutrient function and general health maintenance claims are excluded, 8.1% of products carried a health or related claim. Using the claims categorisation proposed by Food Standards Australia New Zealand for a new standard on claims, general-level claims were found on 9.8% of products and high-level and therapeutic claims (illegal at the time) on 1.2%. The food categories with the highest proportion of products carrying claims were sports drinks (92%), energy drinks (84%), sports bars (57%) and breakfast cereals (54%). 118 high-level and therapeutic claims did not conform to current food standards and there were many general-level claims for ingredient benefits that were unlikely to be able to be scientifically substantiated. The results of this survey suggest that more than 5% of claims were not complying with the current regulations and that the standards were not being fully enforced. To be effective, the new standard will need to be accompanied by clear guidelines for manufacturers on requirements for substantiating claims. Comprehensive education and enforcement frameworks also will be needed, to reduce the number of illegal or apparently unsubstantiated claims.

Australia↗

Test methods to simulate high-temperature exposure.

A study was carried out to compare the actual overall migration from packaging materials into food simulants during heating in a microwave oven, and the overall migration from these materials into food simulants applying time and temperature conditions stipulated in the current EC and Dutch legislation on food packaging. It was demonstrated that the requirement by some food packaging regulations to conduct migration tests in a conventional oven using test conditions that are more stringent than the conditions occurring in practice results in excessively severe and unreasonable test conditions. On the basis of the results obtained additional test conditions (e.g. 30 min and 1 h in combination with test temperatures exceeding 121 degrees C, and a test temperature of 130 degrees C) are proposed to be inserted in existing food packaging regulations to enable realistic migration testing of microwave packaging materials under conventional test conditions. It is concluded that the overall migration behaviour of packaging materials intended for microwave oven use, including microwave-active (susceptor) materials, can be judged on the basis of migration testing using conventional heating. The suitability of iso-octane as a volatile fatty food simulant for the determination of the overall migration under high-temperature test conditions was also investigated. For most samples investigated a good agreement was observed between the overall migration values obtained with olive oil applying both microwave and conventional heating, and those obtained with iso-octane under conventional conditions.

Aluminum↗

Food nutrition label use is associated with demographic, behavioral, and psychosocial factors and dietary intake among African Americans in North Carolina.

OBJECTIVE: Reading nutrition labels on food packages may improve food choices and enable healthful dietary practices. This report describes the prevalence of nutrition label use and its association with demographic, behavioral, and psychological factors and diet among African-American adults. DESIGN/SUBJECTS: Self-reported data from a population-based cross-sectional survey of 658 African Americans, aged 20 to 70 years, in North Carolina. An 11-page questionnaire assessed nutrition label use, fruit and vegetable consumption, total and saturated fat intakes, fat-related dietary behaviors, diet-related psychosocial factors, and demographic and behavioral characteristics. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Chi2 tests and logistic regression analyses examined associations of demographic, psychosocial, and behavioral factors with nutrition label use. Linear regression was used to estimate the variation in diet explained by label use. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 43.9+/-11.6 years, 41% were men, 37% were college graduates, and 75% were overweight/obese. Seventy-eight percent of respondents read nutrition labels when they purchased packaged foods. Nutrition label use was significantly higher among participants who were women, older, educated beyond high school, and obese (P <.05). After adjusting for demographic characteristics, the strongest psychosocial predictors of nutrition label use were healthful eating self-efficacy, strong belief in a diet-cancer relationship, and trying to lose weight. Usual/often label users had higher fruit and vegetable consumption and lower fat intakes (P <.001), and nutrition labels explained 2% to 17% of the variance in dietary intake. CONCLUSIONS: Nutrition information on packaged foods appears to be a useful way to conduct point-of-purchase nutrition education among African Americans in North Carolina. Most respondents used food labels at least sometimes, but only about half usually or often did so. Efforts should be made to determine how all consumers could use nutrition labels effectively.

Adult↗

The occurrence of phthalate ester and di-2-ethylhexyl adipate plasticizers in Canadian packaging and food sampled in 1985-1989: a survey.

Selected foods (260 samples) packaged in materials with the potential to contribute plasticizers to the food, and available food composites (98 samples) obtained from the Canadian Health Protection Branch Total Diet Program, were analysed for phthalate plasticizers and di-2-ethylhexyl adipate (DEHA). The available contacting packaging was also analysed for plasticizers. The results show DEHA in food-contacting film and as a migrant in store-wrapped meat, poultry, fish, cheese and ready-to-eat foods at levels as high as 310 micrograms/g (cheese). DEHA levels in unheated film-wrapped ready-to-eat foods were increased by heating. The di-2-ethylhexyl, dibutyl, butylbenzyl and diethyl phthalate esters (DEHP, DBP, BBP and DEP, respectively) were also found in both the packaging and the contacted foods. Low levels of DEHP (0.065 micrograms/g, average in beverages and 0.29 micrograms/g, average in foods) associated with the use of DEHP-plasticized cap or lid seals, were found in a variety of glass-packaged foods; DBP, BBP and DEHP were found, as previously described, in butter and margarine as migrants from the aluminium foil-paper laminates; and DEP in pies at 1.8 micrograms/g (average) as a migrant from the pie carton windows. In most cases, plasticizers detected in the food were also found in the associated packaging. When possible, 'core' or non-contacting food portions were analysed to verify the migration phenomena.

Adipates↗

Prediction of worst case migration from packaging to food using mathematical models.

Prediction of migration from packaging to food is often made using equations which are not always designed specifically for the problem. At least, these equations should overestimate migration, in order to be on the safe side. Integration of Fick's equation under the assumption of 'infinite packaging' provides an equation which is very practical since it requires only a few experimental data. It is shown here that, unfortunately, the use of this equation leads to a systematic underestimation of the diffusivity, by the square of the percentage of migration at steady state. In contrast to widely accepted opinion, this model is not conservative. A conservative approach requires that the diffusivity is determined under 'finite packaging' assumptions, associated with very large volumes of food and with long term experiments. These equations are applied to the migration of a phenolic antioxidant from polypropylene.

Food Contamination↗

Examination of prepared foods in plastic packages for Clostridium botulinum.

The incidence of Clostridium botulinum organisms was determined in a variety of plastic-packaged "vulnerable" foods (food requiring little or no heating prior to consumption). A total of 113 foods were examined by use of an enrichment recovery procedure followed by toxin testing in animals. Results of the survey indicate that the incidence of C. botulinum organisms in these vulnerable foods is extremely low. The ability of inoculated food products to support growth and toxigenesis of C. botulinum type E was then tested. The 64 packaged foods were inoculated with type E spores and incubated anaerobically at 30 C for 11 days. A slurry of each food was prepared, smears for fluorescent-antibody testing were made, and animal tests were performed for toxin. If the animal tests were negative, enrichment cultures were prepared from the slurry and incubated at 30 C. On direct examination of the slurries for toxin, only samples of turkey roll and soybean cake supported growth and toxigenesis by C. botulinum type E. However, the enrichment culture method was able to induce growth and toxin production in 60 of the remaining 62 samples.

Clostridium botulinum↗

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.

Food Contamination↗

Migration of contaminants by gas phase transfer from carton board and corrugated board box secondary packaging into foods.

The gas phase transfer of substances from carton board (CB) and corrugated box board (CBB) through intervening layers to foods was studied. Substances covering a boiling point range of 252-425 degrees C and a range of polarities were incorporated into CB and CBB secondary packaging. Benzophenone was present in some CB materials. Where it was not already present in CB or CBB secondary packaging, it was deliberately incorporated for transfer studies. Transfer of substances was measured in nine foodstuff types stored in the secondary packaging at ambient and sub-ambient temperature. The foods were packaged in primary packaging materials that would be used in retail. Two food types were packed and stored in both single- and multipack formats. Foods were sampled at 0, 10, 30, 90 and 200 days and analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry after high-performance size exclusion chromatography clean-up. Percentage transfer was between 0 and 100%. The overall trends were increased transfer of substances with increased storage time; a more rapid transfer of the more volatile substances compared with the less volatile ones and higher levels of transfer of the more volatile substances. No transfer of diheptyl phthalate (DHP) (bp 425 degrees C) as an incorporated substance was detected to any foods over the test period. The presence of an additional layer of packaging (multipack versus single pack) was shown to reduce transfer up to fourfold over 200 days and to increase the lag period for transfer. In terms of slowing transfer, metallized PP/PP laminate proved a more effective barrier than PP which was more effective than paper. It is postulated that there is a cut-off threshold for transfer at ambient and sub-ambient temperatures. Substances that are less volatile than the cut-off are anticipated not to transfer from secondary packaging to foods stored for up to 200 days, where the substances are present in the packaging at or below the levels tested in this study (up to 1 mg dm-2). In this study the volatility cut-off threshold lay between that of 2,2-dimethoxyphenylacetophenone (2,2-DMPAP) (an incorporated substance with bp 352 degrees C) and DHP. Ideally, the cut-off threshold should be expressed in terms of vapour pressure in the packaging material. In practical terms, it may be more appropriate to express as partition coefficient as this is simpler to determine experimentally.

Acetophenones↗

Food and packaging interactions: determination of the kinetic parameters of olive oil diffusion in polypropylene using concentration profiles.

The penetration of olive oil into polypropylene was studied in order to allow a complete modellization of food and packaging interactions. Oil concentration profiles through polypropylene food trays were determined by FTIR-microscopy measurements along the thickness at various times. Calculations of the relevant parameters characterizing Fickian diffusion, namely constant diffusivity, coefficient of convective mass transport on the surface and concentration at equilibrium were carried out. This way of working has proven to be considerably shorter and more accurate than the method consisting of recording the global absorbance of the substance absorbed, especially when the amount of diffusing fat is low. Major conclusions are: that absorption of olive oil is strongly influenced by convection; the diffusion coefficient of olive oil in polypropylene is constant. Possible consequences to simplify global migration testing are discussed.

Diffusion↗

The migration of Irganox 1010 antioxidant from high-density polyethylene and polypropylene into a series of potential fatty-food simulants.

Alternatives to highly-volatile ethanol or analytically complex cooking oil were examined as potential fatty-food simulants which would undergo high-temperature exposures to food-packaging polymers in food-packaging evaluation studies. The alternatives consisted of alcohols containing four to eight carbons. As test cases, the migration of Irganox 1010 antioxidant from high-density polyethylene and polypropylene into the higher alcohols was compared to the migration of Irganox 1010 into aqueous ethanol solutions and cooking oil, the US Food and Drug Administration's currently recommended fatty-food simulants. The data obtained showed slightly greater migration of the antioxidant into 95% ethanol than into cooking oil, and slightly less migration into 50% ethanol than into cooking oil. The migration of the antioxidant into the alcohols consisting of four or more carbons was much greater than the migration observed in cooking oil. In many experiments the polymers became depleted of the antioxidant prior to the end of the short, high-temperature exposure period (i.e. 2 h at 250 degrees F) to the higher alcohols. Also, for all experiments run under the same time/temperature/simulant conditions, migration of the antioxidant was greater from polypropylene than from high-density polyethylene. Diffusion coefficients generated for 95% ethanol and corn oil from these data compare closely with data from the literature.

Alcohols↗

Identification of organic contaminants in disposable aluminium foil containers.

A series of disposable aluminium foil containers designed for cooking and packaging foods and available on the Italian market were investigated. Using different analytical techniques (near infrared (NIR), High Resolution Gas Chromatography (HRGC), gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS)), organic substances used as lubricants in the manufacturing of the containers were detected on the aluminium layer in contact with the food. These contaminants were not mineral hydrocarbon fractions used for the shaping of can lids and bodies, but had an organic structure identifiable as esters derived by synthesis between fatty acids C8 and C10 with glycerine, and between C16 and C18 with butyl alcohol. Mixtures of higher esters were also identified as contaminants. Twelve samples were analysed, and the total amount of contaminant substances was found to range from 900 to 1200 microg dm-2. It is recommended, for safety and compliance with European Community (EC) Regulation No. 1935/2004 (27 October 2004), that the use of aluminium foil containers be subject to appropriate regulation concerning substances adopted for technological purposes.

Aluminum↗