Migration testing with olive oil in a microwave oven

A study was carried out to compare the overall migration from packaging materials into olive oil during heating in a microwave oven, and the overall migration from the same materials into olive oil but applying time and temperature conditions stipulated in the current EC and Dutch legislation on food packaging. Application of additional test conditions (e.g. 30 min and 1 h in combination with test temperatures exceeding 121°C, and a test temperature of 130°C) have demonstrated the need for extension of the test conditions mentioned in existing food packaging regulations to enable realistic migration testing of microwave packaging materials under conventional test conditions. It is concluded that the overall migration into olive oil from packaging materials intended for microwave, oven use, including susceptor materials, can be judged on the basis of migration testing using conventional heating. For testing film or susceptor materials in a microwave oven by one-sided contact, a migration cell transparent to microwaves was developed and used up to 200°C. In conventional high-temperature tests applying hot-filling of trays or migration cells, a temperature drop was observed, while handling oil at temperatures of 150°-175°C may be considered perilous. To prevent problems of this kind it is proposed to start migration tests at room temperature and to heat the simulant rapidly to the final test temperature. This procedure is comparable to migration tests carried out with aqueous food simulants at 121°C in an autoclave. Prototypes of migration cells are reported which should enable the analyst to carry out high-temperature migration tests under controlled and reproducible conditions of time and temperature, while starting the tests at room temperature.
Chemicals/CAS: olive oil, 8001-25-0; olive oil, 8001-25-0; Plant Oils; Plastics