Migration and sensory properties of plastics based nets used as food contacting materials under ambient and high temperature heating conditions

Michael Kontominas (1) , Antonios Goulas (1) , Anastasia Badeka (1) , Alexandra Nerantzaki (1)

1 Department of Chemistry [Ioannina]

The overall migration from a wide range of commercial plastics based netting materials destined to be used as either meat or vegetable packaging materials into the fatty food simulant isooctane or the aqueous simulant distilled water respectively was studied. In addition sensory tests of representative netting materials were carried out in bottled water in order to investigate possible development of off-odor/taste and discoloration in this food simulant as a result of migration from the netting material. Sensory tests were supplemented by determination of the volatile compounds' profile of table water containing netting materials using SPME-GC/MS. Test conditions for packaging material/food simulant contact and method of overall migration analysis were according to the EU directives 90/128 and 2002/72. The results showed that for both PET and PE based netting materials values of overall migration into distilled water ranged between 11.5 and 48.5 mg/L, well below the upper limit (60 mg/L) for overall migration from plastics packaging materials set by the EU. The overall migration values from netting materials into isooctane ranged between 38.0 and 624.0 mg/L, both below and above the EU upper limit for migration. Sensory tests involving contact of representative samples with table water under refluxing (100oC/4h) conditions showed that numerous of the netting materials produced both off-odor and/or taste as well as discoloration of the food simulant rendering such materials unfit for the packaging of foodstuffs in applications involving heating at elevated temperatures. GC/MS analysis showed the presence of numerous volatile compounds being produced after netting materials/water contact under refluxing conditions. Eventhough it is extremely difficult to establish a clear correlation between sensory off-odor development and GC/MS volatile compounds' profile, it may be postulated that plastics oxidation products such as hexanal, heptanal, octanal and 2,6 di-tert-butylquinone may contribute to off-odor development in the food silumant commercially bottled table water. Likewise compounds such as carbon disulfide, [1,1' biphenyl]-2-ol and propanoic acid, 2 methyl 1-(1,1 dimethyl)-2-methyl-1,3-propanediyl ester probably originating from cotton and rubber components of netting materials may also contribute to off-odor/taste development.

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Michael Kontominas, Antonios Goulas, Anastasia Badeka, Alexandra Nerantzaki. Migration and sensory properties of plastics based nets used as food contacting materials under ambient and high temperature heating conditions. Food Additives and Contaminants, 2006, 23 (06), pp.634-641. ⟨10.1080/02652030600643369⟩. ⟨hal-00577595⟩