FEATURE

Problems of food protection

by polymer packages
Following a book [Vergnaud, J. M.; Rosca, I. D. Assessing Food Safety of Polymer Packagings; Smithers
Rapra Ltd.: Shawbury, Shropshire, UK, 2006] written on this subject, problems arising in food protection by
polymer packages are examined in this survey, from both a theoretical and a practical point of view. The
process of release of the polymer additives into the packaged food is established: the transfer is controlled
either by transient diffusion through the thickness of the package or by convection at the package–food
interface and through the food as well. As recycling of old polymer packages in new polymer packages is now
common, the time of protection of the food is evaluated when the new package consists of two layers, the
virgin polymer layer being in contact with the food. Active packages able to deliver an antimicrobial agent in
the food are also briefly examined. Finally, an attempt is made to define the operational conditions of a
standardised test as well as the best way to calculate the diffusivity and convection coefficient.

By Iosif-Daniel Rosca,
Jean-Maurice Vergnaud
INTRODUCTION
Before 1950, food was sold mainly
from bulk containers, the packaging
done by the retailer after selling. For
example, milk was taken from a large
milk can by a soup-ladle to be dropped
in the milk-jug of the consumer. Pre-
packaging was developed in the mid
1900s with the production of sealable
glass bottles and airtight metal cans.
Later on, flexible materials, such as
cellophane, were introduced instead
of grease-proof paper. Today, since
they exhibit outstanding food protec-
tion properties such as air-tightness
and durability, plastics are used prefer-
entially for packaging foodstuffs.
It is true that plastic packages are
capable of retarding and sometimes
preventing detrimental changes in
the packed material due to external
influences such as oxygen, light, and
Iosif-Daniel Rosca is affiliated with
Department of Polymer Chemistry,
Polytechnic University, Bucharest,
Romania.
Jean-Maurice Vergnaud is affiliated
with University of St-Etienne, Route
de Chavanne, 42400 Saint-Chamond,
France (Tel.: 4 77 31 86 73;
fax: 4 77 31 86 73; e-mail: vergnaud.
jean-maurice@wanadoo.fr).
micro-organisms. Plastics are also able
to reduce the loss of components such
as water or flavour in the packed mate-
rial to a great extent. Resulting from
this protection, plastic packages
enable the consumer to use foodstuffs
in nearly perfect hygienic conditions,
and to store them without loss in qual-
ity over an extended period of time.
But it is also true that plastics contain
low-molecular weight compounds such
as oligomers and sometimes mono-
mers, and additives such as plasticizers,
lubricants, stabilizers and antioxidants,
which are absolutely necessary either
for the processing or the stability of the
final polymeric materials. The draw-
back that results is the possible migra-
tion of these additives from the package
into the packaged material, leading to a
potential ingestion problem of major
concern. For this reason, a list of non-
authorised additives has been drawn
under the guidance of the European
Community (EEC) and the United
States Food and Drug Administration
(FDA, Washington, DC, USA).
Moreover, as the use of plastic
packages is now widely spread over
all countries, a large amount of old
packages is disseminated in the gar-
bage heaps. Thus the problem appears
with the question: what to do with
these old plastics of various kinds? A
few ways are already explored, waiting
to be widely used:
(i) One way consists of burning them
in the same way as crude oil; it is
true that poly-olefins produce
energy in burning, but it does not
work well for PVC.
(ii) The other way consists of reusing
them as new packages. However, it
should not be ignored that very
often the old cans or bottles made
of plastics are commonly used to
keep other liquids such as chemi-
cals potentially dangerous for
health. And in the same manner
as the additives initially in the vir-
gin polymer may migrate into the
food, these chemicals may deeply
diffuse into the old polymeric
package, and washing even with
boiling water is not able to extract
them. Thus, we have to deal with a
potentially polluted material. And
finally, the only way to resolve the
problem is to build new packages
consisting of two layers, the one
made of the recycled polymer,
while the other made of virgin
polymer that will be put in contact
with the food.
And following this way, as these
multi-layer packages are obtained by
co-extrusion or co-moulding for bot-
tles, at a temperature at which the
polymers are melted, an additional
transfer (by diffusion or perhaps by
convection) takes place between the
recycled and the virgin polymer layers.
At that time of the studies, heat transfer
has to be looked upon, and the effect of
the temperature-dependency of the
diffusivity estimated.1

14 ß Division of Chemical Health and Safety of the American Chemical Society 1871-5532/$32.00
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jchas.2006.08.006
 The process of material transfer from
the package into the food can be gen-
erally described by either transient
Fickian diffusion through the package
or convection in the liquid food as well
as at the solid–liquid (that is, package–
food) interface; the process of transfer is
controlled only by diffusion through the
solid food. Various attempts have pre-
viously been made by assuming that the
rate of convection at the solid–liquid
interface is infinite, leading to the fact
that the concentration of the material
on the solid surface falls instanta-
neously to the value at equilibrium as
soon as it is in contact with the liquid,
e.g., 0 when this liquid is initially pure.2
Other attempts have been made by con-
sidering the thickness of the package as
semi-infinite,3 essentially because this
assumption leads to a very simple equa-
tion. The values of the diffusivity found
in the literature collected from experi-
ments made by various authors whose
operational conditions were either dif-
ferent or not clearly defined, are lying
within a very large range.4 Thus the
values of the diffusivity obtained for
the additives in Low Density Polyethy-
lene (LDPE), differ from one to another
by not less than 100. As the time neces-
sary for a given transport is inversely
proportional to the diffusivity, it means
that the time for contamination should
also vary by 100 times, e.g., from 10 days
to 3 years.
Fortunately, at the present time, the
theoretical treatment of the process of
mass transfer controlled by diffusion–
convection with liquid food or even by
diffusion–diffusion when the food is
solid is precisely described.1 Emphasis
has been placed on the fact that an
infinite rate of convection cannot exist
at the package–liquid interface, and
consequently we have to deal with
more complex equations. The question
of the volume of the package as a
fraction of the volume of the liquid is
also considered. In fact, the problems
of diffusion are not simple to resolve,
either by considering the experiments
or by making calculation.
The purpose of this paper is to
describe precisely the process of trans-
fer of the diffusing substance from the
polymer packaging into the liquid
food, and to present the various equa-
tions, which are widely used. The effect
Journal of Chemical Health & Safety, March/April 2007
of the parameters of interest, especially
the diffusivity and the coefficient of
convection on this rate of transfer, as
well as the ratio of the volumes of
liquid and packaging, is evaluated.
Some results are given in the case of
a single layer package by studying the
effect of the thickness of the package as
well as that of the rate of stirring of the
liquid, which acts upon the coefficient
of convective transfer. In all cases, the
results are expressed in terms of pro-
files of concentration of the diffusing
substance developed through the
thickness of the package and of the
kinetics of transfer of this substance
in the liquid.5,6 Dimensionless num-
bers are used, as often as it was possible
so as to build general curves called
master curves, which can be used in
various different cases.
The problem of a bi-layer system
where the package consists of the layer
made of the recycled polymer bound to
the virgin polymer layer is also exam-
ined. This virgin layer being placed in
contact with the food plays the role of a
functional barrier. The effect of the
various parameters is determined,
without forgetting the effect of the
mass transfer taking place between
these two layers during the stage of
co-extrusion.1,7–9
The function of the active packages
is shortly considered, when the pack-
age is able to release an antibacterial
agent,10,11 and an example of kinetics
is given.12
Finally, an attempt is made in order
to describe the operational conditions
necessary for predicting a standardised
test and apparatus, which should be
used by everybody working in the field
of food pollution. On the other hand,
the best equation leading to the safer
results is drawn so that the results of
these experiments could be expressed
in valuable data.1
THEORETICAL
When the diffusivity D is constant,
being independent of the concentra-
tion, the equation of transient diffusion
is written as follows:
@C @2 C
¼D 2 (1)
@t @x
where the concentration of the diffus-
ing substance C depends on the time, t
and distance, x.1,13
At the packaging–liquid interface,
the rate at which the substance is trans-
ferred into the liquid is constantly
equal to the rate at which this sub-
stance is brought to the surface by
internal diffusion through the polymer
packaging, leading to the relation:
@C
D ¼ hðC L;t  C eq Þ (2)
@x
where h is the coefficient of transfer by
convection in the liquid next to the
surface, CL,t the concentration of the
diffusing substance on the surface of
the solid at time t, and Ceq is the con-
centration of the diffusing substance
on this surface required to maintain
equilibrium with the concentration of
this substance in the liquid, at time t.
The value of the coefficient of con-
vection, h, largely depends on the type
of convection; being rather low in
motionless liquid, it increases notably
with the rate of stirring of the liquid up
to a very large value when the liquid is
strongly stirred.
Finally, both the Eq. (1) expressing
the variation of the concentrations
with time and space in the polymer
and the Eq. (2) defining the so-called
boundary condition, are the funda-
mental equations of diffusion through
a sheet of an isotropic material. There
are the basic equations for calculation
of the kinetics of the transfer of a pol-
lutant from the polymer in the liquid,
as well as of the profiles of concentra-
tion of this pollutant developed
through the thickness of the package.
Eq. (1) is a partial derivative equation,
since the concentration C depends on
the two parameters of time and space.
Finite Coefficient of Convection h at the
Solid–Liquid Interfaces and Infinite
Volume of Liquid
The initial condition given by a uni-
form concentration of the diffusing
substance through the polymer thick-
ness is expressed by the Eq. (3):
t ¼ 0; L < x < þ L; C ¼ C in
sheet (3)
The solution of this problem with the
above initial and boundary conditions
is given for the profiles of concentra-
15
tion developed through the thickness the package, the kinetics of transfer is
of the sheet as follows1,13: expressed by1,6,13:
C 1  C x;t X 1
2R cosðbn ðx=LÞÞ Mt X1
2að1 þ aÞ
¼ 2
¼1
C 1  C in 2
n¼1 ðbn þ R þ RÞcosbn
M1 n¼1
1 þ a þ a2 q2n
   
Dt q2 Dt
 exp  b2n 2 (4)  exp  n 2 (10)
L L
where the bns are the positive roots of where the qns are the non-zero positive
b tan b ¼ R (5) roots of:
tan qn ¼ aqn (11)
and the dimensionless number R is
given by: and the ratio of the volumes of liquid
hL and polymer sheet is a.
R¼ (6)
D The Coefficient of Convection and the
Volume of Liquid are Both Infinite
The kinetics of transfer of diffusing
substance by using the dimensionless When the volume of liquid is infinite,
number Mt/M1 is expressed in terms a = 1, the roots of the Eq. (11) relative
of the dimensionless number Dt/L2 by to the value of qn, are in the form:
the following equation1,6,13: qn = (n + 0.5)p, and thus the Eq. (10)
reduces to the Eq. (12):
M1  M t X 1
2R2
M1
¼ 2 2 2 Mt 8 X1
1 Eqs. (5)–(7). Moreover, when a reac-
n¼1 bn ðbn þ R þ RÞ ¼1 2
  M1 p n¼0 ð2n þ 1Þ2
Dt  
 exp  b2n 2 (7) ð2n þ 1Þ2 p2
L  exp  Dt (12)
4L2
Of course, the total amount of sub-
In the same way, with the hypothetical
stance enters or leaves the sheet,
depending on the relative values of case of the infinite value of the coeffi-
the concentrations C1 and Cin, as cient of convection, the dimensionless
shown previously1 in Eqs. (8) and (80 ): number R becomes infinite, and the bns
values are given by: bn = (n + 0.5)p, so
C 1 > C in ;
that the Eq. (7) also reduces to the
absorption of diffusing substance by
Eq. (12).
the sheet (8)
The Coefficient of Convection and the
Volume of Liquid are Both Finite
C 1 < C in ;
In this case, the mathematical treat-
release of diffusing substance from ment is not possible and no analytical
the sheet (80 ) solution exists.1,13 The problem should
be resolved by using a numerical
method taking into account all the
Infinite Value of the Coefficient of facts, e.g., the diffusivity of the sub-
Convection h at the Solid–Liquid stance through the polymer, the finite
Interfaces and Finite Volume of Liquid coefficient of convection at the solid–
The boundary condition expressing the liquid interface, and the increase in
fact that the rate at which the diffusing concentration of the substance in the
substance enters the liquid is con- liquid (this last fact means that Ceq in
stantly equal to the rate at which it is Eq. (2) varies with time). Thus, the
brought to the surface of the sheet by thickness of the package is divided into
internal diffusion, with an infinite coef- finite increments of space and finite
increments of time Dt are considered.1
ficient of convection, is written:
For each time, calculation is made
@C @C
t > 0; x ¼ L; A ¼ D (9) through the thickness of the sheet
@t @x and thus the time is increased1,6 by
where A is the volume of the liquid. the increment Dt. An iterative calcula-
With a constant diffusivity and the tion is followed in this way.
initial condition of the uniform con- Remark on the thickness of the
centration of the diffusing substance in packaging: Because of the symmetry
with respect to the plane at the abscissa
0, the thickness L, which represents
half the thickness of a sheet in contact
with the liquid on both sides, is also the
total thickness of the package in con-
tact with the liquid on one side only.
Thus the term L in Eqs. (4) and (7) for a
finite value of the coefficient of con-
vection h, and in the Eq. (10) for the
infinite value of h, represents the total
thickness of the packaging, as well as
in the Eq. (12) when the volume of
liquid and the coefficient of convection
are both infinite.
Active Packaging when an
Antimicrobial Agent is Released into
the Food
The diffusing substance is an antimi-
crobial agent able to kill the bacteria.
The kinetics of transfer of this agent
into the liquid is described by the
tion takes place in the liquid food, the
amount of the agent located in the food
is given by the relationship:
dY dM
¼  KY t (13)
dt dt
where dM/dt is the rate of release of
the agent by the package in the liquid
at time t, Y the amount of the agent
remaining free in the food, at time t and
K is the rate constant of the 1st order
reaction of consumption of this
agent.14
The mathematical treatment is not
possible, but the problem has been
resolved by using a numerical method
taking all the facts into account, e.g.,
the release of the agent by diffusion
through the thickness of the package
and convection at the solid–liquid
interface, followed by the 1st order
reaction of consumption1,12 of this
agent in the liquid.
RESULTS
Evaluation of the Parameters of
Diffusion
As shown in the various equations, the
following parameters intervene in the
process of mass transfer from the poly-
mer packaging into the liquid food.
The diffusivity D comes first as it
appears in all the equations, followed
by the coefficient of convection h

16 Journal of Chemical Health & Safety, March/April 2007

shown in the Eqs. (2), and (4)–(7). The
ratio of the volumes of the liquid and
packaging a also appears in the
Eq. (10). Of course, the thickness of
the packaging L plays an important
role in all the equations as proved by
the dimensionless number Dt/L2
expressing that the time of a given
transfer t is proportional to L2.
On the whole, two types of experi-
ments exist to determine the value of the
parameters of diffusion D and h when
the polymer sheet is put in contact with
the liquid: the one consists of measuring
at intervals the profiles of concentration
of the diffusing substance developed Figure 1. Profiles of concentration of olive oil developed through the thickness of
through the thickness of the package, the 0.2 cm thick sheet at various times of contact (1–112 days), calculated with the
and the other in measuring the amount parameters: L = 0.1 cm; D = 7  1011 cm2/s; h = 108 cm/s. One quarter of the
of diffusing substance transferred into sheet is shown.
the liquid, enabling to determine the
kinetics of transfer. that of the evaporation of the Method based on the kinetics of
vapour out of the surface of a transfer of the diffusing substance
Method based on the profiles of polymer, which initially contains The results are expressed in Figure 3
concentration a liquid absorbed; in this case of where the kinetics of transfer of the
The profiles of concentration of olive evaporation, an infinite rate of diffusing substance in the liquid is
oil developed through the thickness of evaporation is attained only for drawn.1 From these values, it clearly
a 0.2 cm thick sheet of polypropylene a permanent gas.6 appears that it would be highly diffi-
(PP) after various times of contact are (v) By plotting the concentration of cult, if not impossible, to evaluate the
shown in Figure 1, as they are obtained olive oil on the surface of the PP amount of liquid absorbed at equili-
by using a typical technique.5 The oil sheet as a function of time, the brium by extrapolating the values mea-
concentration has been determined at values at longer times nearly reach sured up to 112 days. A few
various times by FTIR-microscopy the concentration, which would be conclusions are worth pointing out:
measurements through the thickness attained at equilibrium. Thus it is
of the samples. possible to evaluate by extrapola- (i) This method seems to be easier
Some interesting conclusions can be tion this concentration at equili- than the previous one, as only
drawn from these profiles of concen- brium C1 with a great accuracy, measurements of the concentra-
trations: and therefore the amount of olive tion of the diffusing substance
oil absorbed at equilibrium M1. should be made in the liquid at
(i) The concentration of oil on the This fact is clearly shown in intervals. But, as shown in
polymer surface increases slowly, Figure 2. Figure 3, the experiments are
resulting from the presence of a
finite coefficient of convection h
at the liquid–solid interface.
(ii) The following values for the para-
meters of diffusion are obtained
by calculation:

D ¼ 7  1011 cm2 =s and h

¼ 108 cm=s; which leads to R
¼ 14:3:
(iii) The finite value of the coefficient of
convection h and of the dimen-
sionless number R is proved,
demonstrating the interest of using
the equations system (2)–(7).
(iv) Let us remark that, as already Figure 2. Kinetics of increase in the concentration of olive oil on the surface of the
said,1 there is a similarity between 0.2 cm thick sheet, calculated at the same times as those as in Figure 1 and with
the process in this problem and the same parameters.

Journal of Chemical Health & Safety, March/April 2007 17


Figure 3. Kinetics of absorption of olive oil by the 0.2 cm thick PP sheet, calculated
at the same times and with the same parameters as in Figure 1.
highly time-consuming, because it
is necessary that the amount trans-
ferred at time t, Mt approaches as
much as possible its corresponding
value at equilibrium M1, which
would be attained at infinite time,
theoretically speaking at least.
(ii) In fact, it is difficult, if not impos-
sible, to extrapolate the value of
M1 in the case at hand. However,
an assumption can be made when
there is no partition factor, mean-
ing that the solubility of the dif-
fusing substance in the liquid is
of the same order of magnitude
as in the polymer. And thus the
value M1 at equilibrium can be
obtained by considering that the
amount of the diffusing substance
Min initially in the polymer would
be uniformly distributed through
Figure 4. Kinetics of release of the diffusing substance in the liquid for R = 5 and
different values of a: infinite (Curve 1); 20 (Curve 2); 50 (Curve 3).
18
the liquid–polymer system after a
long time considered as infinite.
Effect of the Parameters a and R on the
Kinetics
The main parameters, which are con-
sidered in the literature are: the ratio
a of the volumes of liquid and of
polymer, and the dimensionless num-
ber R defined by the Eq. (6), which
characterises the importance of the
convection at the solid–liquid inter-
face.
The effect of the ratio of the volumes a
on the kinetics of release of the diffusing
substance in the liquid, is shown in
Figure 4 for the value of R = 5 and the
other various values: a = 20 (curve 2),
a = 50 (curve 3) and a infinite (curve 1).
The following conclusions can be
drawn from these curves:
Journal of Chemical Health & Safety, March/April 2007
(i) The three kinetics of release of the
diffusing substance are nearly simi-
lar whatever the values of a ran-
ging from 20 to infinity. It is
necessary to expand the scale of
the co-ordinates so as to distin-
guish a slight difference between
the curves.
(ii) In fact, it should be said that the
interest of these kinetics lies
essentially at the beginning of
the process, as only a small part
of the additive initially in the poly-
mer will be released.
(iii) Let us remark that for a packaging
in cubic shape with a thickness
L = 100 mm.
a ¼ 166 for 1 L; a ¼ 50 for 27 cm3 ;
a ¼ 16:6 for 1 cm3 :
On the other hand, the effect of the
coefficient of convection on the
kinetics can be observed in Figure 5
where the kinetics are drawn for var-
ious values of the dimensionless num-
ber R and the value of a = 166, leading
to a few interesting conclusions:
(i) These kinetics largely depend on
the value of the number R, with
the following statement: the larger
R, the faster the rate of release of
the substance in the liquid.
(ii) Let us remark that for the infinite
value of R, the kinetics of release
is expressed by a straight line,
according to the Eq. (12).
(iii) Finally, it clearly appears that the
effect of the coefficient of convec-
tion with the number R is far
much important than the value
of the ratio a of the volumes of
liquid and polymer.
Example of the Food Protection by
a Bi-Layer System
Because of the potential interest in the
recycling of old polymer packages into
new packages, the consumer’s safety
has to be considered, and the bi-layer
packages must be tested before use.
The bi-layer package consists of a
recycled polymer layer co-extruded
(or co-moulded for a bottle) with a
virgin polymer layer, and the virgin
polymer layer is in contact with the
food. A pollutant is assumed to be
initially in the recycled polymer while

Figure 5. Kinetics or release of the diffusing substance in the liquid for a = 166
(1 L) and the various values of R noted in the Figure.
the virgin polymer is free from any
pollutant. As it takes some time for this
pollutant potentially located in the
recycled polymer layer to diffuse
through these two layers, and espe-
cially through the virgin polymer layer,
this virgin polymer layer plays the role
of a functional barrier. The main pro-
blem, which stands, is the evaluation of
the time of protection of the food
offered by this functional barrier. This
problem differs from the case encoun-
tered with the single layer package, as
no analytical solution exists, so that a
numerical model taking all the facts
into account, e.g., the diffusion
through the two layers and the con-
vection at the solid–liquid interface
and into the liquid, was built.1
Figure 6. Kinetics of transfer in the liquid of the pollutant initially in the recycled
layer when the package is made of two layers with the same thickness, for various
values of the dimensionless number R.
Journal of Chemical Health & Safety, March/April 2007
The kinetics of release in the food of
the pollutant initially in the recycled
polymer layer are drawn in Figure 6
for various values of the dimensionless
number R, which characterises the con-
vection at the polymer–liquid interface.
This calculation is done with a package
made of two layers of equal thickness,
with a liquid of 1 L stored in a 0.01 cm
thick package, leading to a value of
a = 166. Some conclusions are worth
noting:
(i) A time of full protection of the
food exists, which is the same
whatever the value of R.
(ii) Nevertheless the effect of the coef-
ficient of convection on the rate of
pollution of the food looks very
important, this rate of release
increasing notably with the value
of R.
(iii) The shape of the kinetic curves is
quite different from that shown in
the case of a mono-layer package
(Figures 3–5) where the pollutant
is already in the layer in contact
with the liquid food. As shown in
Figure 6, the concentration in the
liquid increases slowly with time
by following a S-shape.
Survey over the Process with Active
Packagings
Beyond the well-known fact of red
wines and some aged cheeses, which
get better as they get older, virtually all
foods deteriorate over time because of
bacteria. As a result, packaging
researchers are developing technology
to show the deterioration by using
active packages. While the passive
package simply provides a barrier able
to protect the product, the active pack-
age plays an active role in maintaining
or even improving the quality of the
enclosed food. An example is given
with the antimicrobial package, which
delivers into the food an active agent
able to kill bacteria,1,10,11 by following
a first-order reaction.14
The kinetics of release of the agent
in the food and the kinetics of the
agent remaining free can be obtained
by using a numerical model.1,12
Depending on the value of the dimen-
sionless number R, two cases have
been considered: for R larger than
50–100, the process is controlled
mainly by diffusion, and for R lower
than 5–10, the process is controlled by
convection.1 Moreover, two new
dimensionless numbers have been
introduced, the number of Savoie in
the first case and the number of Moû-
tiers in the second case.12 A problem
appears with the various qualifica-
tions of the specialists necessitated
by the work. There should be the spe-
cialists in polymers and polymer addi-
tives, the people responsible for the
food, the experts in packaging, but
also the bacteriologists as well as the
analysts. These two new dimension-
less numbers allow those people to
work independently, but nevertheless
keeping in mind the same common
objective.
19

Figure 7. Kinetics of the agent remaining free in the liquid food when the process is
controlled by convection with R = 1, for various values of K (with the Moûtiers
number (KL/h)).
Figure 7 represents the kinetics of
the agent remaining free in the food
after its consumption by the bacteria,
when the process is controlled essen-
tially by convection for various values
of K and of the Moûtiers number:
K = 0 (1); K = 108 (2); K = 107 (3);
K = 106 (4); K = 105 (5); K = 104
(6); K = 103 (7); K (/s) L = 0.1 cm;
D = 108 cm2/s; h = 107 cm/s; 1 L of
liquid.
A few obvious conclusions are
drawn from these curves:
(i) Nearly all the antibacterial agent
is consumed when the action of
the bacteria is strong (curves 5, 6),
and it remains free in the food
when the consumption is low
(curves 1, 2).
(ii) In this case, the process of release
of the agent is essentially con-
trolled by convection, with a mod-
erate high rate of transfer of the
agent at the beginning of the pro-
cess.
(iii) Because of the consumption pro-
cess, the concentration of the
agent passes through a maximum,
which depends on the rate of con-
sumption.
CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions are worth
noting.
20
The process of release of a potential
pollutant into the liquid food is con-
trolled by diffusion through the thick-
ness of the package and by convection
at the solid–liquid interface. The equa-
tion derived from this process can be
applied whatever the value of the
volume of the liquid, provided that a
is larger than 10–20, when the liquid
could be located in a thimble. In spite
of the fact that the Eq. (7) was obtained
for an infinite volume of liquid, the
kinetics can be determined by measur-
ing the increase in the concentration of
the pollutant in the liquid. Of course,
measuring the profiles of concentra-
tion of the pollutant through the pack-
age is shorter in time, but it necessitates
a complex apparatus.
In order to reduce the discrepant
values obtained by the various experi-
mentalists, it is necessary to establish
standardised tests in the same way as it
was done for the dosage forms in phar-
macy.15 The volume of the liquid with a
around 100 should enable a controlled
rate of stirring. The samples are placed
in such a way that the convection would
be similar. The time could be reduced by
using a thin thickness but without alter-
ing the shape of the film and the area of
contact with the liquid; moreover, a few
analyses should be made at lower times
than usually done in order to be able to
define precisely the coefficient of con-
vection.
Journal of Chemical Health & Safety, March/April 2007
Theoretically, it can be said that the
transfer of the pollutant through the bi-
layer package during the co-extrusion
or co-moulding is rather low. But
another consideration remains with
the psychology of the consumer. About
the future of the active packages, some
researchers are confident, and it has
been shown that the theory of the
release-consumption process of the
agent is already well established.1
In all cases, dimensionless numbers
are used, leading to master curves able
to be useful by any workers whatever
their data. A wide table for the bn is
shown elsewhere.1
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