Packaged food intake by British children aged 0 to 6 years

Abstract

The European Union approach to assessing exposure to chemical migrants from plastic food-contact materials has been to assume an intake of 1 kg of food in contact with a particular material, per 60 kg person per day, which equates to 16.7 g kg(-1) body weight. A food packaging surface area-food mass ratio of 6 dm(2)/1 kg is assumed, equivalent to 0.1 dm(2) kg(-1) of body weight. Children might be at increased risk to exposure from migrants as they have higher intakes of food per kg body weight compared with adults. In addition, much of the food marketed for/to children is in small portions and therefore the food-contact material area-food mass ratio is relatively high. To determine if, and how, the European Union model might be modified to ensure specific protection against chemical migration into food marketed for children, data on 4-day food intakes of 297 children aged 0-6 years were collected including information on pack size, pack type and food-contact material area-food mass ratio. The 297 children consumed a total of 1646 kg of food and drink (including tap water), of which 978 kg (59%) was packaged with 67% of this packaged in plastics. Mean intakes of food packaged in plastic ranged from 27 g kg(-1) body weight (for the infants under 1 year) to 51 g kg(-1) body weight (for the 1-4-year-olds). This was higher than the 16.7 g kg(-1) body weight derived from the European Union convention. The mean area of packaging in contact with the food consumed daily per kg body weight were 0.65 dm(2) kg(-1) for the infants under 1 year, 0.81 dm(2) kg(-1) for the 1-4-year-olds, and 0.66 dm(2) kg(-1) for the 4-6-year-olds. All 297 children had intakes that exceeded 0.1 dm(2) of packaging per kg of body weight assumption.

Potential Food Safety Concerns in Fried Potato Products in Kenya

“…The negative effects of these migrants to food safety can no longer be over looked if safety of the food supply is to be assured [79]. Chemical migrants from polyethylene in both simulants and true foods have been reported in Europe, being high in oily foods under higher temperature [80] [81]. Similar trends have been reported in Brazil [82].…”

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

“…Exposure of British children aged 0-6 years to FCM has recently been assessed in a field study [34]. The authors found that these children on average consumed 1.6 times (ages 0-1), 2 times (ages 4-6), and 3 times (ages 1-4) as much plastic food packaging as estimated by the current EU approach.…”

Recent developments in the risk assessment of chemicals in food and their potential impact on the safety assessment of substances used in food contact materials

“…In a study of the diet of a general population, performed in households in Portugal (Poças et al, 2009), the average ratio was found to be 11.7 dm 2 /kg overall, with a value of 7.2 dm 2 /kg specifically for cartons containing liquids. A UK survey found that the ratio for infants (less than 12 months old) was, on average, less than 6 dm 2 /kg (Foster et al, 2010), but this was said to be due to the large contribution of either breast milk or tap water used to reconstitute infant formula in this age group. In the same study, the average ratio was found to be 8 dm 2 /kg for foodstuffs eaten by children aged from 1 to 4 years and 10 dm 2 /kg for foodstuffs eaten by children aged from 4 to 6 years (Foster et al, 2010).…”

“…A UK survey found that the ratio for infants (less than 12 months old) was, on average, less than 6 dm 2 /kg (Foster et al, 2010), but this was said to be due to the large contribution of either breast milk or tap water used to reconstitute infant formula in this age group. In the same study, the average ratio was found to be 8 dm 2 /kg for foodstuffs eaten by children aged from 1 to 4 years and 10 dm 2 /kg for foodstuffs eaten by children aged from 4 to 6 years (Foster et al, 2010). The range of values was 0.8-11.6, 4.2-18.5 and 2.7-20.8 dm 2 /kg for the three age groups < 1, 1-4 and 4-6 years, respectively (Foster et al, 2010).…”