Tests of potential functional barriers for laminated multilayer food packages. Part I: Low molecular weight permeants

• Published in: Food additives and contaminants Vol. 17; no. 8; pp. 703 - 711
• Main Authors: Simal-Gandara, Jesus, Sarria-Vidal, Miguel, Koorevaar, Arjen, Rijk, Rinus
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Taylor & Francis Group 01.08.2000; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: 2-Propanol - pharmacokinetics; Acetic Acid - pharmacokinetics; Alkenes - pharmacokinetics; Biological and medical sciences; Chromatography, Gas; Food Contamination - prevention & control; Food industries; Food Packaging; Food toxicology; Functional Barrier Recycled Food Packaging Non-AUTHORIZED Substances In Food Packaging Inverse Gas Chromatography Head Space-GAS Chromatography Flame-IONIZATION Detection; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Handling, storage, packaging, transport; Mineral Oil - pharmacokinetics; Models, Chemical; Molecular Weight; Permeability; Polypropylenes - chemistry; Toluene - pharmacokinetics; Multilayer coating; Toxicity; Container content interaction; Permeation; Foodstuff; Flame ionization detection; Mass transfer; Molecular weight; Gas chromatography; Kinetic model; Analytical method; Diffusion barrier; Packaging; Conditioning; Recycled material; Mathematical model; Physicochemical properties
• ISSN: 0265-203X; 1464-5122
• DOI: 10.1080/02652030050083222

The advent of the functional barrier concept in food packaging has brought with it a requirement for fast tests of permeation through potential barrier materials. In such tests it would be convenient for both foodstuffs and materials below the functional barrier (sub-barrier materials) to be represented by standard simulants. By means of inverse gas chromatography, liquid paraffin spiked with appropriate permeants was considered as a potential simulant of sub-barrier materials based on polypropylene (PP) or similar polyolefins. Experiments were performed to characterize the kinetics of the permeation of low molecular weight model permeants (octene, toluene and isopropanol) from liquid paraffin, through a surrogate potential functional barrier (25 μm-thick oriented PP) into the food simulants olive oil and 3% (w/v) acetic acid. These permeation results were interpreted in terms of three permeation kinetic models regarding the solubility of a particular model permeant in the post-barrier medium (i.e. the food simulant). The results obtained justify the development and evaluation of liquid sub-barrier simulants that would allow flexible yet rigorous testing of new laminated multilayer packaging materials.