SOME APPLICATIONS OF FT-IR SPECTROMETRY FOR THE ANALYSIS OF COATINGS AND SURFACES IN PACKAGED FOOD SUBSTANCES

Infrared spectrometry is demonstrated to be a powerful tool for solvin g problems related to the use of polymeric materials in food packaging . These problems range from the identification of minute amounts of ma terials, such as flavor agents retained in coatings, to the investigat ion of adhesion problems in laminate wraps and to the identification o f gross amounts of deposit discovered in a lemonade can. In some insta nces, a complex mixture of organic vapors is separated using standard chromatographic techniques, with subsequent analysis by FT-IR spectros copy. In particular, the utility of headspace GC/FT-IR analysis is dis cussed, as this technique is not routinely used. In other cases, the s olid samples themselves are examined by more conventional FT-IR method ologies.