DETERMINATION OF HEAVY METALS IN FOOD PACKAGES IN AQUEOUS EXTRACTS BY ATOMIC ABSORPTION SPECTROMETRY

Food quality and safety is one of the most important aspects of the food industry. One of the key factors to ensure food safety is packaging. Increasing number of food packaging materials is creating a demand for promoting products and brands that are safe for consumption. Food spoilage due to poor quality packaging causes huge loss not only to businesses but also to consumers. Despite the effectiveness of existing practices, retailers still face many challenges, including the materials used and their possible interaction with food. In addition, the transfer of harmful materials from packaging materials to food is still an issue. This study presents the results of determining the migration of heavy metals used in different types of food packaging in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Determination of heavy metal migration was carried out in aqueous extract by atomic absorption spectrometry. The practical value of the above research is to study the content of lead, zinc and chromium in the composition of various types of paper food packaging. The study revealed that the average amount of chromium migration in food packaging was in compliance with the requirements set out in TR/TC 005 2011 ‘On safety of packaging’, the values of lead and zinc migration were close to the limits set out in the Technical Regulation, which should be considered as a potential risk to human health if they can be reused without any pre-treatment as a source of recycled cellulose fibre.