Food Contact Rubbers 2

The objective of this Rapra Review Report is to provide a comprehensive overview of the use of rubber as a food contact material, from an initial description of the types of rubber which are used in the industry, through the formulation of products, and the contact regulations and migration testing regimes, to the research that is on-going to improve its safety and the trends for the future. This report is a completely revised and updated version of Rapra Review Report 119 published in 2000. This Rapra Review Report comprises a concise, expert review, supported by an extensive bibliography compiled from the Rapra Abstracts database on the topic of rubbers in contact with food. This bibliography provides useful additional information on this topical field.

The objective of this report is to provide a comprehensive overview of the use of rubber as a food contact material, from an initial description of the types of rubber which are used in the industry, through the formulation of products, and the contact regulations and migration testing regimes, to the research that is on-going to improve its safety and the trends for the future. This report is a completely revised and updated version of Rapra Review Report 119 published in 2000. The report comprises a concise, expert review, supported by an extensive bibliography compiled from the Polymer Library to provide useful additional information on this topical field.

"Food Contact Materials - Rubbers, Silicones, Coatings and Inks, is an amalgamation of data from four recent projects. This report provides a wealth of information taken from the results and findings of research projects on: Migration Data of Food Contact Rubbers (Two projects), Rubber Breakdown Products, Chemical Migration from Silicones used in Connection with Food Contact Materials and Articles and An Assessment of the Potential of Migration of Substances from Inks and their Respective Coatings. Each review provides an expert overview of the products as food contact materials, with a comprehensive accompanying list of relevant references from the Smithers Rapra Polymer Library to enable further reading. In each case there is an initial in-depth description of the variety and types of products that are used in industry, and the chemical processes associated with their manufacture. A summary of the relevant food contact regulations, together with the migration and analytical testing regimes used to assess their suitability for food contact are also included. Food Contact Materials - Rubbers, Silicones, Coatings and Inks, brings together important sources of food contact information in a single, convenient volume and will be an important reference source for workers in the food industry in general, and within the food contact field in particular. This handbook will also be of interest to anyone who works with the packaging of food and beverages and also to those who are studying food packaging/processing."--Publisher's website.

This report provides an excellent, clearly written report on the state-of-the-art of food contact elastomers. In the UK, the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (MAFF), industry and Rapra have combined forces to study the issues surrounding rubbers in contact with food. A survey has been carried out of the food processing industry to determine which rubber products come into contact with food, contact area, duration of contact and temperature of contact. The results of this survey are found in the report and a compilation of data tables on each food industry studied is included as an appendix. An additional indexed section containing several hundred abstracts from the Rapra Polymer Library database gives useful references for further reading.

Rubber analysis plays a vital part in ensuring that manufactured products are fit for purpose. This comprehensive, application-based book with up-to-date referencing covers all important applications and subject area associated with the analysis of rubber compounds and rubber products. Includes characterization of rubber polymers, rubber fumes, identification of extractables and leachables, as well as reverse engineering on compounded products.

In recent years there have been certain scare stories about the possible negative effects on human health from some of these materials. However, today, it is realised that it is often not the polymers themselves, but their monomers or the additives used that are responsible for these negative effects. And the reality is that a lot of polymers are used in medical applications without adverse effects on patients. Hence, the dividing line between whether something is toxic and harmful to health or not (and if it is, under what conditions) is a very critical issue and therefore, there needs to be a better understanding of these systems. This book presents the available information on the eternal triangle of plastics and rubber and health, to enable a better understanding of the facts.

Toxins and Other Harmful Compounds in Foods provides information on the contents, distribution, chemical properties, and biological activity of toxins and other harmful compounds in foods that are natural components of the raw materials, accumulated due to microbial actions and environmental pollution, or are generated due to processing. This book shows how different factors related to the production of raw materials, as well as to storage and processing conditions, affect the presence and concentration of toxins and other harmful compounds in foods. It shows how various regulations, as well as unit operations and processes used in food production, may eliminate different toxins or generate new ones. The real health hazards for the consumers resulting from the presence of toxic/harmful compounds in aliments are discussed, and various national and international regulations obligatory in agriculture and industry aimed at increasing food safety are presented. Methods of analysis used for detection and determination of undesirable compounds are also discussed, making it possible to understand the effect of storage and processing parameters, as well as systems of quality assurance, on food safety and to select optimum procedures for analytical control.