Practical aspects of testing food contact materials for migration

Progress in three areas has provided analytical methods and understanding to assist in migration testing for compliance with European Community Directives on food contact materials. A simple migration test has been developed to indicate whether or not a food makes fatty contact with plastics. This test is then used to guide the initial choice of appropriate food simulants. The Karl Fischer technique for water determination has been used to eliminate the need to humidity condition plastics in overall migration testing. This results in more rapid and more reliable migration testing. Finally, the stability of 'positivelist' monomers and other starting substances has been examined in food simulants. This identifies those substances which, for reasons of reactivity, may not be expected to survive a migration test and for which, therefore, migration testing as such is inappropriate.