What is the purpose of the paper under the cold meat? Will there be any harmful substances left?

When shopping at the fresh produce counter in a supermarket, you may notice that there is a special paper pad underneath the boxes of fresh meat.

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What is so special about this absorbent paper, which is different from ordinary kitchen paper towels? Is it safe to keep it in frozen food for a long time? Let's talk about it today.

Why do we need to put fresh absorbent paper?

Fresh meat may leak residual liquid during transportation and storage. Fresh meat contains a certain amount of moisture, which may not freeze immediately under low temperature conditions, but instead forms condensation inside the package or leaks out with changes in cell structure.

In addition, during transportation, distribution, etc., meat may experience temperature fluctuations, which can cause the moisture on the surface of the meat to evaporate and condense inside the packaging to form water droplets. Condensation inside the packaging is mainly caused by the temperature difference between the meat and the packaging material.

When the temperature of the cold meat is lower than the dew point temperature of the surrounding air (that is, the critical temperature at which water vapor in the air begins to liquefy into water droplets), the water vapor in the air will condense into water droplets on the inner surface of the package. This phenomenon is particularly common in closed or semi-closed packages, because cold air is not easy to escape and condensation is easily formed inside the package.

In order to reduce the problem of residual liquid seeping out of fresh meat and condensation water in the packaging during transportation and storage, in addition to using packaging materials with good thermal insulation properties to reduce temperature fluctuations and ensuring the sealing of the packaging to prevent external moisture from entering, the use of special fresh meat absorbent paper can also quickly absorb the residual liquid seeping out of the meat and the condensation water inside the packaging, helping to keep the inside of the packaging dry and extend the shelf life of the meat.

The absorbent paper under the boxed cold fresh meat is usually made of food contact grade materials , including five layers: spunlace non-woven fabric (1), absorbent paper (2), polymer absorbent resin (3), absorbent paper (4), polyethylene film (5) . These five layers of materials are pressed together and tightly sealed to finally produce the fresh absorbent paper. When used, it is directly placed in the fresh food box to quickly absorb liquid, so that consumers can see clean, sewage-free and fresh meat the moment they open the fresh food package.

Source: References

Is fresh absorbent paper safe?

However, with the exposure of a large number of food safety issues in recent years, people can't help but worry: Is the paper under the chilled meat clean? Will there be any residual substances that are harmful to health?

The good news is that the materials used in fresh absorbent paper are all safe, environmentally friendly, non-toxic and tasteless, and can be directly in contact with food. Because they are food-grade materials, these absorbent papers will not contaminate meat or cause harm to human health under normal use conditions. So, what kind of paper is food-grade?

The quality standards for food contact paper and paperboard materials and products are formulated by the National Health Commission. According to the national standard GB 4806.8-2022, which will be officially implemented on June 30, 2023, the raw material requirements, sensory requirements, migration indicators, residue indicators and other technical requirements for food contact paper are stipulated to ensure the safety of food contact paper.

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Among them, the raw material requirements for food contact paper and paperboard materials and products should not cause harm to human health. The fiber raw materials should be mainly plant fibers, and the synthetic fiber raw materials contained should meet the requirements of GB 4806.6. The sensory requirements are shown in the following table:

Migrants of paper and paperboard materials and products that are expected to be in direct contact with liquid food, free water or free fat on the surface should comply with the following table:

The microorganisms of paper and paperboard materials and products that are expected to come into direct contact with food and are used directly without disinfection or cleaning should comply with the following table:

In addition, there is the group standard T/GDPPA 0004-2024 , which covers technical requirements, test methods and quality evaluation for product quality grading of food contact paper and products.

Meeting these standards can effectively control harmful substances in food contact materials that may migrate to food and protect the health of consumers. Therefore, as long as we buy chilled meat through regular channels, we don’t have to worry about safety issues even if the chilled meat we eat is in contact with this absorbent paper for a long time and over a large area. However, after taking chilled food out of the refrigerator, it still needs to be processed as soon as possible to avoid bacterial growth at room temperature.

References

[1] Patent: A polymer fresh food absorbent pad: CN202320026706.X[P]. 2023-11-07.

[2] National Standard: GB 4806.8-2022 “National Food Safety Standard Food Contact Paper and Paperboard Materials and Products”

[3] Group standard: T/GDPPA 0004-2024 “Quality Grading Standard for Food Contact Paper and Its Products”

Planning and production

Source: Shanghai Science and Technology Museum (id:sstm01)

Author: Xu Yan, PhD candidate in Materials Science at Fudan University

Editor: Yinuo

Proofread by Xu Lai and Lin Lin