Identification of suspected hazardous chemical contaminants in recycled pastry packaging

BACKGROUND: The safe use of recycled paper and cardboard material for food packaging applications is an important area of investigation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine which hazardous chemi- cal pollutants were found in paper and cardboard samples used for pastry packaging, and to measure the migration of pollutants over time into the pastries. METHODS: In this study, the presence of some organic pollutants in common confectionery packaging, and the effects of storage time and type of pastry on pollutant migration, were investigated. RESULTS: The results of the study indicate that harmful compounds such as benzophenone, pentachlorophenol, bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and dibutyl phthalate are present at high concentrations in most recycled boxes used for pastry packaging. CONCLUSIONS: Since the migration of some of the hazardous compounds from the packaging materials into the pastries under normal conditions was indicated, it is recommended that the procedure for preparing pastry packaging materials should be reconsidered and improved.