Food-label contamination

Strict EU regulations exist for the use of plastics in food packaging, but there is no specific legislation about the chemicals in adhesives used to attach sticky labels directly or indirectly to food packaging, or to fix packaging layers together.

Now, a team of scientists studying compounds in acrylic adhesives has discovered that some chemicals can diffuse through the packaging and reach the food inside. One of those is considered highly toxic and found in high concentration in some adhesives.

The team, from the University of Zaragoza, Spain, studied four different acrylic adhesives and examined in detail the 11 compounds found in them. Some were solvents, while others were residual monomers or impurities remaining from manufacture.

Of the 11 compounds, four migrated all the way into the food stimulant used for the experiments - with two being higher in toxicity than recommended by the International Life Sciences Institute Europe, the body that investigates food safety and toxicology.