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
Titel:
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
Auteur:
Grob, Koni Spinner, Christoph Brunner, Martin Etter, Rolf
Verschenen in:
Food additives and contaminants. Pt. A, Chemistry, analysis, control, exposure & risk assessment
Paginering:
Jaargang 16 (1999) nr. 12 pagina's 579-590
Jaar:
1999-12-01
Inhoud:
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. 1000Da) 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 mu g/kg for individual components and 300 mu g/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.