Novel simulants for measuring migration

The legislation for food contact materials (FCM) says that a material or packaging must not transfer their constituents to food in concentrations that can be harmful for humans. In many cases this is regulated by adhering a migration limit to specific substances. But today's methods for measuring migration, where liquid simulants are used, are developed for plastic materials. If these simulants are applied to less inert materials, such as paper and board, there is a risk that the simulant dissolves the material or that the simulant i absorbed by the material. This does not simulate the real situation when these materials are used in their intended way. Today's methods are simply not suited for measuring migration of substances from materials such as paper and board.

In this project we are developing novel simulants that are better suited at measuring migration from these less inert materials. The focus is on developing simulants that mimic moist and fatty foods.  

A better method for measuring migration from less inert materials, such as paper and board, will help the industry to show compliance with the legislation. It will also lead to safer materials in contact with food and making sure that the consumers are not exposed to unnecessary risks. The novel simulants will also be helpful in evaluating whether recycled materials are safe to use in contact with food.

Results so far

During the first part of the project, a so-called hydrogel has been developed, to mimic moist foods. The hydrogel has been shown to be able to estimate the migration of polar substances at a satisfactory level when the migration to the hydrogel is compared to the migration to an apple slice.

Selected results from the first part of the project are published in the journal Food Packaging and Shelf Life, volume 45 September 2024 . 

The article can be accessed here.

Ongoing activities

In 2025, we will continue to work with the hydrogels and compare the migration of surrogate substances to the hydrogels with the migration to several different types of foods.

We are also looking at:

• Various possibilities to modify the hydrogels to also be able to estimate the migration of non-polar substances
• The possibility of measuring the migration of aluminum using the hydrogels
• Development of an emulsion gel to simulate the migration of substances into fatty foods