Analytical approaches for safety assessment and development of Innovative Packaging Solutions

Abstract

Ideally, food for human consumption, as well as any material that comes into contact with food should be free from any possible chemical contamination. In the modern world this has become practically impossible, and the efforts are instead put towards minimizing human exposure as much as possible to substances that can cause adverse health effects. Since many years, high attention has been paid to migration of contaminants from food contact materials (FCM) to products. The term FCM includes “all materials and articles intended to come into contact with food. The FCM are made from different raw materials and other substances, the so called Intentionally Added Substances (IAS), which are added to enhance stability and mechanical properties of the FCM itself and can be present as undesirable components into foodstuffs. Typical examples of IAS include monomers, antioxidants, lubricants, surfactants, UV stabilizers, as well as technological adjuvants. Furthermore, FCMs can also contain other substances that originate from reaction by-products, degradation process, oligomers, products originated from chemical reactions between the packaging materials and the foodstuff, as well as impurities from the raw materials used for their production. All these substances are called non-intentionally added substances (NIAS). NIAS can be divided into reaction-by products as above reported, or neo-formed compounds and contaminants picked up during the production or recycling process. Moreover, degradation products can be divided into degradation of polymers and degradation additives”. The phenomenon of NIAS is expressly mentioned in Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 (Regulation (EU) n° 10/2011). Analysis of NIAS has proven to be very challenging, since their presence or identity is often not known. Consequently, innovative analytical approaches based on untargeted analysis, for the detection and identification of NIAS, and emerging contaminants, are in continuously development (M. Wrona M., et al., 2020 ; Cavazza A., et al., 2021) The focus of these three years of research has been, on one hand to investigate the possible sources of migration from packaging to food products. It was a broad-spectrum investigation. In fact, the possible migrations from primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging were investigated as conventional packaging materials (plastic-based) in collaboration with a company CAMPUS s.r.l (Collecchio, Parma, Italy) (Section 6). The next step of this research, in accordance with the European Regulation 2019/904 which has entered in force 3 July 2021 (Directive (EU) 2019/904) on the reduction of the impact of plastic products on the environment, was focused on the investigation of possible migrating substances from bio-based materials used to replace plastic materials to make paper coffee cups, biodegradable plates, compostable plates, etc. This investigation was carried out using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (Section 7). In parallel with the analytical investigation of these different materials, alternative materials for packaging have been developed according to the principle of circular economy. In fact, Spray4pack a biodegradable, compostable and edible material, primary packaging to extend food shelf-life, was developed using bioactive compounds such as essential oils. Application of this material is currently carried out in collaboration with Greci Industrie Alimentari s.p.a (Parma, Italy). Kinetic release studies of bioactive compounds was measured using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (Section 8). The choice of agricoltural by-products as raw materials to make innovative packaging can be considered as promising solutions, although the origin of these materials does not exclude the presence of harmful molecules (Zimmermann L., et al., 2020; Nilsen-Nygaard J., et al., 2021). Starting from these sources, some new materials as edible films, as well as spray preparations have been formulated and are proposed to extend food shelf-life of meat and fish-based products. Another section of this doctoral thesis describes some innovative solutions of active packaging Obtained by the effect of different materials, and coating treatments on glass, wood, paper, and polymers, proposed to improve packaging performances. These treatments are often obtained using natural products, and can confer the materials new properties, such as antioxidant and antibacterial activity. In some cases, they even permit to achieve oxygen barrier or surface impermeabilization, allowing large applications in the field of food and cosmetics. Thereby, in collaboration with the Department of Engineering and Architecture of the University of Parma a new biodegradable material, named Neatmat, was developed using poly (butylene adipate terephthalate) (PBAT) reinforced with Zein-TiO2 complex microparticles, and was characterized by electron microscopy, tensile and dynamic-mechanical tests (Section 9). Recently, the use of nanoparticles to enhance gas and light barrier properties and to improve mechanical resistance has been proposed. The antimicrobial properties of nanoparticles are also well known. The last part is dedicated to proposing the analytical characterization of green substrates for synthesis of metallic nanoparticles from sustainable sources using analytical techniques, in collaboration with the Department of Inorganic Chemistry of the University of Vigo (Spain) (Section 10)