FINAL REPORT (Synthetic Version) EU Project QLK1-CT2002-2390 Foodmigrosure

Abstract

Between March 2003 and September 2006 the FOODMIGROSURE project, contract number QLK-CT2002-2390, was carried out by 9 European project partners with the intention to develop an ¿into-food¿ migration model tool which should enable prediction of mass transfer of constituents from plastics food contact materials into foodstuffs in support of calculations/estimations of the exposure of consumers towards food packaging constituents. A further objective was to investigate the social acceptance of migration modelling versus chemical measurements, and its implications for exposure estimation. The project resulted in comprehensive sets of migration data for a wide range of substances and large sets of various foodstuffs. The data obtained allowed to validate a migration models on real foods both for compliance as worst case or refined for exposure assessment. The results also showed aspects of food chemistry that can influence migration, and initiated a new area of public risk perception specific to food contact materials safety. Systematic kinetics studies had an impact on Directive 85/572/EC on correspondence factors of foodstuffs and food simulants; as well as on the use of mathematical modelling,and on standardisation (CEN) stemming from the development of methods in foodstuffs.