The Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock published the Turkish Food Codex Communiqué on Food and Plastic Materials in Contact with Food (Communiqué no: 2013 / 2013) in 34. This Communiqué describes the principles that must be followed in the production, processing and distribution of plastics and materials in contact with or likely to come into contact with food.

The Communiqué covers the following types of packaging:

• Materials made entirely of plastic
• Materials made of multi-layered plastic bonded or bonded together
• Materials mentioned above and printed or coated with a coating material
• Plastic layers or plastic coatings forming the seals in the lid and closure elements, together with plastic layers or plastic coatings in the lid and closure elements made of different materials with two or more layers.
• Plastic layers in multi-layer or multi-material structure

In accordance with the principles of this Communiqué, it is a necessity for companies producing food packaging to carry out migration analyzes. The enterprises producing foodstuffs and packaging are obliged to determine the necessary production and quality control criteria and to carry out analyzes in accordance with the relevant legal regulations.

For companies producing foodstuffs, packaging is an important process that enables the storage of products in appropriate conditions, protects the products from various contaminants, provides conditions related to hygiene and product safety and prolongs the shelf life of the products.

Choosing an unsuitable packaging for foodstuffs adversely affects the food's physical, chemical and microbiological food safety and, more importantly, threatens consumer health. With the development of technology, it is possible to select different packaging materials and different technologies for different products. In the food industry, paper, metal, glass, wood, re-manufactured cellulose or rubber compounds and polymers are used as packaging material.

The companies that produce packaging require the testing and analysis services from the laboratories in order to follow the research, development and quality control processes in order to produce the appropriate packaging that comes into contact with the food and the companies that produce the food. These studies are carried out in accordance with the principles of the aforementioned communiqué.

The basic tests and analyzes performed within the scope of packaging analyzes are as follows:

 

Packaging Analysis
Aluminum percentage in aluminum based materials (with XRF)	Determination of box size in tin packages
Resistance to sudden temperature changes	In-box pore control in tin packages (each for lid and body)
Bisphenol A analysis (plastic materials and materials for children, polycarbonate type plastics)	Determination of tin tin weight (for each body and lid)
Gasket quantity control	Tin coating thickness measurement in cans (with XRF, for one surface)
Phthalate analysis (in material)	Tin coating thickness measurement in cans (with XRF, for all surfaces)
Phthalate analysis (migration)	Thickness detection in cans
Amount of extractive residue soluble in chloroform (separate for each simulant)	Determination of grip ratio in cans
Maximum solubility fraction in xylene	Determination of the pore and coating condition of the tin
Control of the box closing clamps (for each of the upper and lower covers)	Total migration analysis (for each)
Pressure testing of box clamps	Total migration analysis (vegetable oil simulant)
Box sealing test	Total migration analysis (E2-like simulant)
Lacquer weight test (bottom top cover, body for each)	Total migration analysis (for each) (for reusable products)
Resistance of lacquer coating to solvents at sterilized temperature	Total migration analysis (vegetable oil simulant) (reusable products)
Melamine analysis (HPLC)	Total heavy metal analysis (in lead) (in food additives) (titrimetric)
Determination of melamine and structural analogs (LC-MS / MS)	Determination of vacuum amount (in tin and glass packages)
Determination of primary aromatic amine (PAA)	Structure determination (for each) (FTIR)
Determination of specific migration (plastic, ceramic and metal)	Determination of semi-quantitative elements (XRF)

 

 

Fast, high quality and reliable packaging analyzes are performed in advanced laboratories. These analyzes are based on standards published by domestic and foreign organizations.