Migration of epoxidised soya bean oil into foods from retail packaging materials and from plasticised PVC film used in the home

Abstract

Epoxidised soya bean oil (ESBO) is used as a plasticiser and heat stabiliser in a number of food contact materials, in particular in poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) films and gaskets. The level of ESBO migration into foods has been determined using a combined gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric (GC/MS) analytical procedure. The study has included both the use of ESBO‐containing materials for retail packaged foods and the domestic use of plasticised PVC films for applications such as wrapping food and covering food for re‐heating in a microwave oven. Levels of ESBO in fresh retail meat samples wrapped in film ranged from < 1 to 4 mg/kg, but were higher (max. 22 mg/kg) in retail cooked meat. Migration into sandwiches and rolls from ‘take‐away’ outlets ranged from < 1 to 27 mg/kg depending on factors such as the type of filling and the length of the contact time prior to analysis. The levels of migration of ESBO into cheese and cakes were consistent with previous experience with plasticiser migration—direct contact with fatty surfaces leading to the highest levels. When the film was used for microwave cooking in direct contact with food, levels of ESBO from 5 to 85 mg/kg were observed, whereas when the film was employed only as a splash cover for re‐heating foods, ESBO levels ranged from 0.1 to 16 mg/kg. For a variety of baby foods there was no significant difference in ESBO levels between foods packaged in glass jars with PVC gaskets and foods in cans containing ESBO in the can lacquer. In both cases ESBO levels were low, ranging from <0.l to 7.6 mg/kg. It is not clear for these retail samples, if the low levels observed (average 1.9 mg/kg) result solely from migration or contain some contribution from naturally occurring epoxides.