A new consensus is emerging between experts. Food contact materials are the primary sources of chemical contaminants in foods. The substances originate from materials in contact with food, but also from cross-mass transfer between all materials used during production, handling, and distribution of food [1]. Repeated use, recycling, and the diversification of raw materials complexify the management of the safety of finished materials dramatically. One crucial game-changer has been the broad adoption of conservative migration modeling, which has significantly reduced the cost of compliance testing. The approach remains, however, too coarse to tackle the roots of the contamination problem: How to identify the critical steps or components? How to choose the substances, the materials and how to set the process and storage conditions to minimize the risk of contamination? The presentation will offer an overview of the scientific breakthroughs obtained during the last decade on the understanding of mass transfer in thermoplastics from molecular scale to the scale of the supply chain. Calculations at atomistic scale combined with proper molecular theories of interactions and free-volume effects enable to predict the main thermodynamic and transport properties of almost any intentionally or non-intentionally added substances [3-6]. Preventive methods derived from those used by the aerospace industry (Failure Mode Effects and Criticality Analysis) have been adapted to mass transfer problems to generate quantitative and comprehensive scores (severity) for systems as large as supply chains [7]. Evolutive design integrating food safety, shelf-life and environmental impact considerations has been proposed to explore rapidly and in 3D new food packaging systems [8]. New practices and cooperation between stakeholders are encouraged through specific online training programs involving several universities and technical centers in the EU [9] and US.<br/><br/>

Managing the safety of food contact materials through preventive engineering approaches and innovation

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.