The industry association the German Federation of Food Law and Food Science (BLL) has published a guideline document for assessing the migration of mineral oil hydrocarbons from food packaging. The guideline aims to support companies in the assessment of packaging already in use as well as to help identify which measures might be recommended or necessary to minimize or prevent migration through alternative packaging solutions employing barrier layers, inner bags, absorbers, or virgin fiber-based packaging. The guideline is intended to be used in combination with the toolbox for preventing the transfer of mineral oil hydrocarbons that the organization published in 2018. It covers topics such as calculation of migration via total mass transfer, based on assumption of equilibrium, and based on contact conditions and barrier characteristics.

Mineral oil hydrocarbons are complex chemical mixtures generally derived from crude oil. They can be present in food contact materials (FCMs) either intentionally as additives or unintentionally as contaminants from processing equipment or recycled paper fibers (FPF dossier).

Reference

BLL (February 2019). “Guideline for the assessment of MOSH/MOAH migration from packaging into food with the aim of minimization.” (pdf)

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