Abstract
A method for testing the mineral oil barrier properties
of packaging materials has been developed as a response
for the concerns on contamination of food by mineral oil
compounds. The aim was to provide an efficient tool to
evaluate packaging materials with respect to this. The
method is a modification of the so-called cup test using
model compounds comparable with mineral oil components
with different length and configuration of the
hydrocarbon chain. The model compounds are introduced in
the gas phase as penetrants. The absorbed amounts, which
have migrated through the barrier, are analysed from a
food simulant or powdered sugar. The method has been
validated for coated and non-coated boards. Compared with
folding boxboard without polymer coating, polyethylene
terephthalate-coated board reduces the amount of the C16
compound in food simulant after 7-day tests by a factor
of 30. An extended migration model describing sorption
mechanisms to both food simulant and fibres in the
packing material has been developed. The model
simulations for folding boxboard indicate that fibres
absorb a significant proportion of the compounds when
molecular weight increases. This retards the migration
significantly compared with the speed expected by
diffusion mechanism only.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 571-583 |
| Journal | Packaging Technology and Science |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2016 |
| MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Keywords
- barrier
- migration
- mineral oil
- model
- packaging material