Food contact materials (FCM) are widely used in the modern society. They can be manufacture with several types of products, being polymers one of the most common used ones. Depending on the conditions of use, polymers in contact with food may yield unreacted compounds (monomers, additives, non-intentionally added substances (NIAS)). The migration of these compounds is ruled by the Fick’s Laws. Identification of the potentials migrant has become a challenge for regulatory bodies, food industry as well as field laboratories, particularly for unexpected migration products such as degradation products, compounds formed due to side reactions during polymers processing, as well as reaction products formed from the reaction of the migrants and the food. Different identification strategies can be used for identification, including the use of liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, direct analysis in real time and FTIR among others.  Once potential migrants have been identified, analytical methods can be developed for determination of the identified substances. The use of analytical standards facilitates the analysis and gives confidence in the method development. However, for most of the unexpected potential migrants, such as NIAS, available standards are usually not available. For the analysis of NIAS either synthesis of compounds or the use of proxies (standards that belong to the same family of the migrant) can be employed. For the selection of analysis of relevant NIAS, estimation of their toxicity is an important factor, and this can be achieved by using the Cramer rules. In this presentation, different analytical strategies for identification and analysis of migrants that may migrate from FCM (e.g. kitchen utensils, food cans, stickers for food contact applications) into food simulants and food are going to be presented and discussed.<br/>

Identification and determination of potential migrants in food contact materials

254th National Meeting (2017)

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