BPA, Phthalates, Heavy Metals: Is Your Product Packaging Actually Safe?

This figure deserves the serious attention of every packaged food manufacturer in Indonesia: BPOM Regulation No. 20 of 2019 on Food Packaging stipulates that the maximum migration limit of BPA from packaging into food products is 0.6 parts per million (ppm, mg/kg) a threshold that illustrates how thin the line is between safe packaging and packaging that potentially contaminates the products it contains.

Food packaging safety concerns arise because the components that make up packaging known as food contact substances can migrate into food, and some of these migrants are chemical compounds that are harmful to human health. For packaged food manufacturers, deeply understanding packaging safety standards is not merely a regulatory obligation it is the foundation of consumer trust and business sustainability that cannot be compromised.

Table of content:

• Food Packaging Functions: More Than Just a Wrapper
• Hazardous Substance Migration: The Hidden Threat in Packaging
• Food Contact Substances Every Manufacturer Must Watch Out For
• Food Packaging Regulations in Indonesia: A Firm Legal Framework
• The Role of Laboratory Testing in Ensuring Packaging Safety
• A Guide to Choosing Safe Food Packaging for Manufacturers

Food Packaging Functions: More Than Just a Wrapper

Food packaging is the material used to contain and/or wrap food, whether in direct contact with the food or not. The primary role of packaging in the food industry is to protect products from external contamination ensuring food safety, maintaining quality, and extending shelf life.

Packaging must protect food from environmental factors such as light, oxygen, humidity, microorganisms, insects, dust, gas emissions, pressure, and more. Yet behind this protective function lies a risk that manufacturers often overlook: the potential migration of chemical substances from packaging materials into the food products they contain an invisible risk with potentially serious health consequences for consumers.

Hazardous Substance Migration: The Hidden Threat in Packaging

The sources, types of compounds, and substances that migrate from packaging can include residues from polymerization reactions such as monomers and catalysts, additive materials such as stabilizers, plasticizers, and fillers, as well as migrating heavy metals including lead, cadmium, mercury, and chromium.

The degree of migration is influenced by several critical factors: the temperature of the product at the time of contact with packaging, the duration of contact, the aggressive nature of the food product whether acidic, fatty, or aqueous and the quality and composition of the packaging material itself.

Migration increases as the contact time between packaging and the packaged product increases, meaning the longer a product remains packaged, the greater the potential migration particularly for hot, acidic, or high fat products.

Food Contact Substances Every Manufacturer Must Watch Out For

Among the food contact substances that have attracted the most scientific and regulatory attention are: Bisphenol A (BPA), linked to hormonal disruption, reproductive problems, and even cancer; phthalates, which can also disrupt hormones and cause other health problems; and ink on paper or cardboard packaging that may contain heavy metals such as lead that can contaminate food.

More specifically, BPOM regulates the migration of various hazardous food contact substances, including BPA in polycarbonate (PC) plastic packaging, melamine, polystyrene (PS) plastic packaging, heavy metals such as lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), chromium (VI), and mercury (Hg) in plastic packaging, phthalate compounds in PVC and PET packaging, and phthalate compounds in paper and cardboard packaging.

Each of these substances has a scientifically established maximum migration limit that every manufacturer using these packaging types is obligated to comply with.

Read also:
Laboratory Study on the Effects of Pesticides on the Food Chain

Food Packaging Regulations in Indonesia: A Firm Legal Framework

The regulatory framework for food packaging in Indonesia is built on several mutually reinforcing legal foundations. Government Regulation No. 86 of 2019 on Food Safety stipulates that every person who produces food for distribution must use permitted packaging materials. This is strengthened by BPOM Regulation No. 20 of 2019 on Food Packaging, which specifically regulates the permissible migration limits of food contact substances. SNI standards are also mandated for high risk products and raw materials to provide protection for safety, security, health, and the environment with legal consequences for violations.

For manufacturers who do not comply with these regulations, risks include product withdrawal from the market, administrative sanctions, and legal proceedings that can threaten business continuity.

The Role of Laboratory Testing in Ensuring Packaging Safety

Laboratory testing should be conducted for all food packaging to ensure that the migration of food contact substances does not exceed the threshold limits set by BPOM. Food packaging migration testing is conducted through two primary approaches: global migration testing, which measures the total mass of substances transferred from packaging to food simulants, and specific migration testing, which identifies and measures specific substances known to be harmful.

The type of food being packaged is classified as aqueous, acidic, alcoholic, or fatty and this classification is critically important in determining the food simulant to be used during migration testing. Reference standards used include BPOM Regulation HK.03.1.23.07.11.6664 of 2011, EU standards, and various SNI standards published for different types of food packaging.

A Guide to Choosing Safe Food Packaging for Manufacturers

For packaged food manufacturers, choosing safe packaging is not merely about selecting the cheapest or most readily available material it is a scientific decision that must be based on several critical considerations. First, ensure the packaging material selected is included in BPOM's list of permitted materials and does not appear on the negative list of prohibited food contact substances.

Second, consider the nature of the food product to be packaged hot, acidic, or high fat products require packaging with far more stringent migration resistance properties. Third, conduct regular migration testing through an accredited laboratory to ensure that packaging continues to meet safety standards as product formulas, storage conditions, or packaging material suppliers change.

Fourth, ensure packaging carries a verifiable food grade label not merely an unsubstantiated supplier claim without supporting test data.

Has Your Packaging Been Tested? Ensure It's Free from BPA, Phthalates, and Heavy Metals!

BPA, phthalates, and heavy metals in packaging are not just a consumer health threat one BPOM finding can mean a full product recall and overnight brand damage. Don't wait until it's too late.

IML Testing & Research is ready to help you test hazardous substance migration in food packaging using BPOM RI standard methods. Consult your packaging testing needs today.

References

Government Regulation No. 86 of 2019 on Food Safety (Indonesia).

BPOM Regulation No. 20 of 2019 on Food Packaging.

BPOM Head Regulation No. HK.03.1.23.07.11.6664 of 2011 on Food Packaging Materials.

Law No. 18 of 2012 on Food (Indonesia).

BSN. (2024). BPOM Revises Food Packaging Regulations, BSN Notes 33 Food Packaging SNI Standards. bsn.go.id Food Review Indonesia.

Food Packaging Oversight: Food Contact Substance Migration. foodreview.co.id Ministry of Industry Centre for Chemical and Packaging. Food Packaging Migration. bbkk.kemenperin.go.id