Effect of high-pressure/temperature (HP/T) treatments of in-package food on additive migration from conventional and bio-sourced materials.

Migration was assessed during and after two high-pressure/temperature (HP/T) treatments intended for a pasteurization (800 MPa for 5 min, from 20 to 40 degrees C) and a sterilization treatment (800 MPa for 5 min, from 90 to 115 degrees C) and were compared with conventional pasteurization and sterilization, respectively. The specific migration of actual packaging additives used as antioxidants and ultraviolet light absorbers (Irganox 1076, Uvitex OB) was investigated in a number of food-packaging systems combining one synthetic common packaging (LLDPE) and a bio-sourced one (PLA) in contact with the four food-simulating liquids defined by European Commission regulations. After standard HP/T processing, migration kinetics was followed during the service life of the packaging material using Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) spectroscopy. LLDPE withstood the high-pressure sterilization, whereas it melted during the conventional sterilization. No difference was observed on migration from LLDPE for both treatments. In the case of PLA, migration of Uvitex OB was very low or not detectable for all the cases studied.