BASF Tests Packaging Barrier Solutions against Mineral Oil Residues

By testing its packaging barrier solutions against mineral oil residues from cardboard packaging, BASF AG (Ludwigshafen, Germany) has concluded that its solutions significantly reduce the amount of packaging residues that come in contact with food.

“Cardboard packaging is usually made of recycled paper that contains mineral oil residues from printing inks,” says BASF. “At temperatures as low as room temperature, these residues evaporate and are deposited on dried food packaged in the box, including pasta, semolina, rice, and breakfast cereals. Most of the plastic linings in the bag-in-box systems in use today do not provide sufficient protection.”

Several of these residues have been linked to serious health implications by leading scientific organizations, including the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA).

In 2010, scientists with the Food Safety Authority of the Canton of Zurich used a specific scientific method to measure levels of packaging-derived residues that came in contact with food. BASF used this same scientific method to test out the barrier protection of its own products; the company found significant reductions with its solutions.

BASF’s barrier solutions include Ecovio FS Paper, a biodegradable plastic for coatings of cardboard and biodegradable film packaging systems; Epotal A 816 for film coating and barrier layering in bag-in-box systems; Ultramid polyamide for multilayer packaging of meat and cheese; and specially developed water-based dispersions.