DETECTION OF RESIDUES OF THE EPOXY ADHESIVE COMPONENT BISPHENOL-A DIGLYCIDYL ETHER (BADGE) IN MICROWAVE SUSCEPTORS AND ITS MIGRATION INTO FOOD

Susceptors are an example of one of the many new products being introd uced into food packaging. They are used to achieve local areas of high temperature; this has the effect of browning the food during microwav e cooking. Previous work by Begley et al. had suggested that one parti cular cold cure adhesive component, bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADG E), might be present in some susceptor products but gave little indica tion as to the retail use of these products. As a result an investigat ion of UK retail samples was carried out in January 1992. Most of the susceptors tested contained no detectable BADGE (<0.1 mg/kg), however, two brands of pizza were found to be packaged with susceptors contain ing BADGE at between 700 and 800 mg/kg (1.8-2.0 mg/dm(2)). Migration o f BADGE into the pizzas in question was 0.1-0.7 mg/kg when they were c ooked in their packaging according to on-pack instructions. Further te sts undertaken in June 1992 confirmed earlier findings when from a tot al of 54 samples purchased covering seven manufacturers, nine samples of susceptors used in one brand contained BADGE at concentrations betw een 1900 and 3200 mg/kg. The manufacturer of this brand has stopped su pplying further products to the retail market using this particular ty pe of susceptor. A third set of tests was undertaken in November 1992 to ensure that these products were no longer on sale in the UK. Of 44 susceptors analysed, only one contained BADGE above 0.1 mg/kg; this ap peared to be old stock pre-dating the manufacturers' action.