FDF Members Change Recycled Packaging to Reduce Mineral Oil Risk

Individual members of the U.K. Food and Drink Federation (FDF) have reportedly announced plans to reconfigure their packaging after recent studies showed mineral oils from recycled cardboard leaching into food items. According to a March 8, 2011, BBC News article, which cited government researchers in Switzerland, the chemicals are used in printing inks “and have been linked to inflammation of internal organs and cancers.” At least one study evidently demonstrated that mineral oils could pass “easily” through many of the inner linings used in recycled cardboard boxes, with only 30 out of 119 sampled products deemed free of mineral oil.

“For the others they all exceeded the limit, and most exceeded it more than
10 times, and we calculated that in the long run they would probably exceed
the limit 50 times on average and many will exceed it several hundred times,”
one researcher was quoted as saying.

As a result, some cereal companies have already started investing in alternative
packaging, while FDF has pledged to work with regulators on the
issue. “The Food Standards Agency has indicated that there is not a need
for immediate action. It is carrying out a survey of food packaging materials
including recycled cardboard and will report back in the summer,” said FDF
Director Barbara Gallani in a March 8, 2011, statement. “In the meantime FDF
has revised guidance for food manufacturers on recycled carton board in food
packaging.”