Investigation on food contact surface area to volume ratios of food contact materials of tea in China

Abstract

ObjectiveTo study the use of packaging materials for tea in China and establish the database of surface area to volume ratios （S/V） of different food contact materials for different types of tea.MethodsSeven categories and 413 tea samples with different packaging forms were purchased from markets and online stores. Food contact surface area of each sample was determined by direct measurement or via 3D surface area measuring instruments. The S/V was calculated based on the food contact surface area and the quality or specification data of the tea products.ResultsAll the contact materials for tea were made of a single material， and the mean S/V was 93.0 dm2/kg， ranging from 3.5 to 595.6 dm2/kg. 99.8% （412/413） of the S/V was equal or higher than 6.0 dm2/kg， and 87.2% （360/413） was in the range of 6.0-200.0 dm2/kg.ConclusionThe S/V of most commercially available tea products in China was higher than 6.0 dm2/kg， a parameter used for risk assessment by European Food Safety Authority （EFSA）. Therefore， using the S/V constructed by this investigation can decrease the uncertainty in the food contact material risk assessment.

Keywords

• food contact materials
• tea
• surface area to volume ratios
• exposure assessment