Development of packaging factors for the risk assessment of food contact substances from food consumption survey of Chinese infants and toddlers

Abstract

Abstract The consumption factors (CF) and food-type distribution factors (fT) for Chinese infants and toddlers aged 0–3 were derived in this study, using food consumption and packaging usage data obtained from the China National Food Consumption Survey conducted in 2015. Food type grouping was based on existing standards from China, European Union (EU) and the United States (US), while packaging classification were done according to the exact material in contact with food. Plastics were learned to be the paramount material used for food packages in this study, followed by coated and uncoated metal (tinplate and aluminum), and glass material found the least application from the CF results. The fT calculated from this study demonstrated that the majority of polymer materials were used to contact acidic type foodstuff and more than 90 % of coated and uncoated metals were used for packing dry food, e.g. powdered infant formula. The CF and fT developed in the present work could be applied to the estimation of dietary intakes of food contact substances for Chinese infants and toddlers aged 0–3 with the approach proposed by the US Food Drug Administration (FDA). The risk assessment result obtained through this method would be more realistic than through the traditional EU conservative one.