Ultra-violet spectrophotometry (UV), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectroscopy (LC-MS) were used to identify and quantify oligomers extracted with boiling water from two different nylon 6 films used in boil-in-bag food packaging. The results indicated the loss of up to 1.5% of the original nylon film weight, into the boiling water, as caprolactam and cyclic oligomers up to the nonamer. Extraction time, thickness and type of film used, were found to be parameters which affected the levels of these migrants. These results will be relevant to situations in which food is cooked in the water used to heat the pouch contents.

EU legislation requires that components from food contact plastics should not migrate significantly into the food. The nature and extent of species migrating from laminated materials used for packaging 'heat and eat' meals have been investigated. Selected target analytes included additives incorporated into the polyolefin, e.g. the Irganox and Irgafos antioxidants, the diisocyanate and polyol residues from the adhesive and oligomeric material from the nylon. The results identified a wide range of migrants arising from each of the individual components of the laminate. Some of the migrants have been identified as precursors of the principal components of the laminate as well as those anticipated from a knowledge of the laminate construction. The levels of migration for those components identified and quantified has been well below the legal limits. Some significant migrant species have been however left unidentified by this investigation.