NON-PLASTIC PACKING MATERIALS-NEW FOCUS ON THEIR SAFETY

Modern food processing industry is totally dependent on functional packaging materials to preserve and present their products to the consumers. From the good old open top sanitary cans to to day's multitude of plastics, a frequently worrying aspect has been the extent of chemicals leached into the food contents during processing as well as storage for varying periods. It is a universally accepted norm that foods packed in any packaging mode must not cause any ill effect to the consumer at any stage. While cans were dominating the food packing landscape for a number of years, concerns were always there about the extent of leaching of substances like lead, arsenic, iron, tin etc and safe limits have been in vogue adopted by international community. Then came the plastics and as hundreds of chemicals are used in manufacturing different plastics, the problem of migration of some of the constituents of the plastics into foods packed became a matter of serious concern. There are safety limits for most of the leachates that could migrate into contents, universally accepted based on exhaustive studies. The latest focus of safety experts is on non-plastic packing materials which can pass on undesirable chemicals when used for food contact application. The EU, which is seriously concerned about consumer safety in their member countries, is taking the lead to look into this virgin area and world will come to know about the undesirable effect of the leachates from these packaging materials, if any, once the study is completed.

"The body's Scientific Cooperation (ESCO) Working Group has also proposed that a Pan-European network of experts be set up to help tackle crisis situations that surface in relation to such issues as printing inks, coatings, paper and board, and adhesives. What happens to substances that are used in the production of non-plastic FCMs is another major issue, it said. These are some of the findings contained in a report this week from a Europe-wide panel of experts brought together by the Parma-based food safety watchdog. EFSA convened the panel of experts last year after concerns were raised that a number of recent crises had originated from non-plastic parts of food contact materials (FCMs). Toxic substances leaching into foods from packaging inks and recycled cardboard have been two of the major issues grabbing industry and consumer attention".

There was a time in India when old news papers were being used for wrapping food materials and concerns expressed regarding the possibility of leaching Lead from the printed paper. It may be recalled that Lead based letters were part and parcel of printing presses for a number of decades. Of course the practice wrapping in news papers still continues though to a lesser extent after the advent of plastics which is used extensively as carry bags almost every where. But to day's printing industry hardly uses any lead based letters. With graphics becoming an integral part of advertisements, product promotions and pack designs, diverse colors used in the printing can be of danger though how serious this problem can be, is not known to day. The EU study can be expected to lay guidelines regarding this issue and other countries can benefit from their findings.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
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