Evaluation of the Food Contact Suitability of Aged Bio-Nanocomposite Materials Dedicated to Food Packaging Applications

Abstract

Nanocomposite materials based on bio-polyesters (PBSA and PHBV) have been evaluated for their suitability for food contact according to the recommendations defined for non-biodegradable plastic materials, and subsequently, according to accelerated aging treatment. On the basis of the limited number of material/migrant/food simulant combinations studied here, the test for migration, using food simulants, appeared directly applicable to testing such materials which are not considered humidity-sensitive materials. Considering the only compliance criterion that must be met by the materials in contact, the materials submitted to the aging processing are not of safety concern and the incorporation of nanoclays in aged biodegradable materials does not interfere with their inertial properties in a dramatic way. At the molecular scale, the UV irradiation proved to induce an increase in the degree of crystallinity, resulting in a modification of transport properties of both packaging materials. The values of overall migration and specific migration were reduced without decreasing the diffusion coefficients of the target additives. The UV treatment and the addition of nanoparticles, therefore, seem to jointly promote the retention of organic compounds in the materials by increasing their affinity for packaging material.

Changes of thermal properties and microstructure of nano‐ZnO/polylactic acid composite films during Zn migration

“…At the same time, 10% ethanol solution with more abundant moisture content reduced the adhesion strength between the PLA molecules and its additives. Therefore, composite film samples had the highest overall migration in the 10% ethanol solution 27–29 …”

“…Therefore, composite film samples had the highest overall migration in the 10% ethanol solution. [27][28][29]…”

Migration Testing of GPPS and HIPS Polymers: Swelling Effect Caused by Food Simulants Compared to Real Foods

“…The investigated GPPS and HIPS sheets showed normal levels of residual monomer and oligomers when compared with previous reported values for PS food contact materials and articles [24,[32][33][34]. Additionally, the sheets were artificially spiked during extrusion with model compounds that are widely used for migration and functional barrier studies [35][36][37] as well as for so-called challenge tests for determining the cleaning efficiency of recycling processes [38][39][40]. These artificially added substances represent the following general categories: volatile and non-polar (toluene and chlorobenzene), non-volatile and non-polar (phenyl cyclohexane), non-volatile and polar (benzophenone and methyl stearate).…”

Designing Biodegradable and Active Multilayer System by Assembling an Electrospun Polycaprolactone Mat Containing Quercetin and Nanocellulose between Polylactic Acid Films

“…Release studies of quercetin from bi- and trilayer films were conducted by immersion of the films into two fatty food simulants according to EU Regulation N° 10/2011 about materials and plastic objects in contact with food at 40 °C [ 38 , 39 ]. Double-sided, total immersion migration tests were carried out by total immersion of 3 cm 2 pieces of each film in 5 mL of food simulant (area-to-volume ratio = 6 dm 2 /L) contained in a glass vial.…”