Food contamination has always been a major concern for food manufacturers. In the course of food production, production equipment requires different types of lubricants to ensure their proper operation, so how to minimize the potential contamination risk of lubricant use?
Mineral oil, as a processing aid in the production process, including lubricants used in food production and packaging processes, enters the food chain. However, even trace amounts of mineral oil components, such as mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) and mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH), are harmful to humans and can not only remain in human tissues, but may also have adverse effects on the liver, and even some carcinogenic risks cannot be ruled out. Therefore, to put an end to these ingredients into the human body, cannot let them remain in the human body. The EU therefore calls for enhanced monitoring of mineral hydrocarbons in food and in materials and articles in contact with food.
This rule has a significant impact on food manufacturers because MOSH/MOAH testing reports can have a negative impact and risks to the business, such as high-cost recalls of products and damage to the company's reputation.
Due to the complexity of the determination of mineral hydrocarbons in food, there are currently no standardized analytical methods and statutory limits in Europe. The German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) is studying legal limits on packaging material migration, discussing setting limits of up to 2 mg of MOSH and 0.5 mg MOAH per kilogram of food.
The above analysis is usually performed using the online composite chromatography (HPLC-GC/FID). Limits depend to a large extent on the distribution and sample type of mineral hydrocarbons. For example, in high-oil samples, about 5 mg of mineral hydrocarbons per kilogram of food, while in dry samples, 0.1-0.5 mg per kilogram.
As the world's leading expert in friction solutions, Kluber Lubricants is committed to addressing this issue and helping food manufacturers meet the highest hygiene standards recommended by the European Food Safety Authority.
