Pace, Gregory V.. Migration studies of chloropropanols from paperboard packaging in contact with foodstuffs. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3DZ07ZX
DescriptionThe food processing of acid hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) results in the chlorination of residual lipids to form chloropropanols. 3-chloro-1,2-propanediol (3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol; 3-MCPD), and 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol (1,3-DCP), are the most common chloropropanols found in HVP foods and also soy sauces. The manufacturing process of paperboard food packaging may also produce chloropropanols. 3-MCPD and 1,3-DCP can be found in paperboard when wet-strength resins made with epichlorohydrin are used. 1,3-DCP had been determined to be carcinogenic in rats and mice. 3-MCPD was a suspected carcinogen , and has recently been moving towards classification as a carcinogen. The European (EU) Commission and the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) have set maximum levels in food and food paperboard packaging for 3-MCPD and 1,3-DCP. In October 2010, 3-MCPD and 1,3-DCP were added to the California Proposition 65 list of compounds known to State to cause cancer. In this investigation, migration studies were conducted to measure 3-MCPD and 1,3-DCP migration into food simulants from the food contact side of polyethylene extrusion-coated paperboard beverage cartons, and also total immersion extractions of both polyethylene extrusion-coated and uncoated paperboard. It is shown that 3-MCPD, found at levels far above the regulatory limits for food packaging, does not migrate at a significant amount through the polyethylene extrusion-coated food contact surface of the paperboard. The aqueous extractions of the entire paperboard and food contact side extractions with aqueous and acidic food simulants were performed using US FDA and EU Commission standard and accelerated migration testing protocols. In these migration studies, an EU standard method for cold water total immersion extractions was compared to migration cell extractions to measure the chloropropanols migration into food simulant solvents from the entire paperboard and the isolated food contact side of polyethylene extrusion-coated paperboard beverage cartons. This research demonstrates that polyethylene food contact coated film can function as a barrier to the migration of 3-MCPD into the food packaged in a polyethylene extrusion-coated paperboard engineered for that purpose.