Migration
Food is packed for transport in a wide variety of materials made of plastics, paper, carton, or metal or comes into contact with them during preparation.
In the process, a mass transfer of substances from material components to the food may occur, the so-called migration.
Legislature requires that no substances are transferred to food that
- are a hazard to human health,
- may incur unjustifiable changes in the composition of the food
- or in its organoleptic properties
Nowadays, plastics are the most important materials in the field of food.
Among the compounds that can migrate from the polymeres are
- additives (e. g. plasticisers, stabilisers)
- monomeres and oligomeres ( e. g. caprolactam, terephthalic acid)
- but also processing excipients and pollutants through an unmonitored use of recycled materials.
PiCA Prüfinstitut Chemische Analytik GmbH carries out the following tests:
- determination of the global migration with the help of different food simulants
- determination of the specific migration with different food simulants
- determination of migration at higher temperatures using the MPPO method