The Simplest Sample Treatment Techniques to Assess the Quality and Safety of Food Packaging Materials

Food packaging performs a number of useful functions which include protecting foodstuffs from external contamination, but it must not be overlooked that the packaging itself is not totally inert and can transfer substances to the packaged food. Human health together with food safety and quality are of prime importance and require analytical background and regulations /1,2/ to ensure that there is the necessary control of any substances which might be transferred to the packaged food. Therefore European legislation has been introduced to ensure that there is the necessary control of these likely transferred substances: only the substances approved and listed /3-8/ may be used for the manufacture of plastic in contact with food and, where necessary for toxicological reasons, there are specific restrictions. These restrictions limit the quantities of