The migration from the internal coatings of food cans; summary of the findings and call for more effective regulation of polymers in contact with foods: a review

Abstract

The analysis of migrates from the internal coatings of food cans showed that the present regulation is not sufficient to ensure safety of food contact polymers. The migrates often consist of complex mixtures of reaction products and impurities, and their harmlessness cannot be deduced from the use of non-toxic starting substances compiled in positive lists. The regulation proposed herein asks producers to analyse the composition of the migrates. It includes an upper limit for the molecular weight (e.g. 1000 Da) and thresholds defining concentrations in the foods down to which components must be identified and evaluated. Primarily considering feasibility at reasonable costs, thresholds of 30 micrograms/kg for individual components and 300 micrograms/kg for the sum of the unidentified materials are proposed. Producers must be able to demonstrate that the individual components or mixtures exceeding this limit, including reaction products with food components, have no toxic effect.

Need for a better safety evaluation of food contact materials produced from resins

“…cause the chemical structures more strongly deviated from those of the starting substances (Grob et al, 1999).…”

“…Grob, Spinner, Brunner, & Etter, 1999). This paper reiterates the development of the safety evaluation process regarding reaction products in general and that of the resins in particular.…”

Assurance of compliance within the production chain of food contact materials by good manufacturing practice and documentation – Part 3: Lids for glass jars as an example

“…The internal surface of the lid was commonly coated by organosols stabilized with novolac glycidyl ether (NOGE). NOGE has neither been toxicologically evaluated (despite the presence of glycidyl functions; Grob, Spinner, Brunner, & Etter, 1999), nor was it listed in the Resolution AP (96) 1. Internal face of a metal closure for glass jars.…”

Assurance of compliance within the production chain of food contact materials by good manufacturing practice and documentation – Part 1: Legal background in Europe and compliance challenges

“…Furthermore, it is not always safe to assume that oligomers have the same toxicological profile as the monomer as, e.g., illustrated by the oligomers of styrene (Date et al, 2002;Ohyama, Nagai, & Tsuchiya, 2001 Impurities of starting substances and other unintentionally added substances are also considered ''covered" by the listed compounds. For complex mixtures, such as the resins used for producing coatings, inks or adhesives, usually only the starting substances are controlled, though they are primarily composed of reaction products, and the migrate from the final product almost exclusively consists of substances other than these starting substances (Grob, Spinner, Brunner, & Etter, 1999;Grob, Biedermann, Scherbaum, Roth, & Rieger, 2006).…”