Food and packaging interactions: tailoring fatty food simulants.

Migration of paramagnetic probes from rigid PVC within 24 h at 50 degrees C depends on the simulant to a considerable extent. With a strongly swelling simulant like tert.butyl acetate, the rate of diffusion is governed by the rate of penetration of the medium into the polymeric network. Isooctane has a very weak interaction with rigid PVC. With a mixture of tert.butyl acetate and isooctane it is possible to adjust the aggressivity of the medium and to tailor an alternative simulant that interacts with the polymer in the same fashion as the EU's official fatty food simulants. Particular responses of polar probes underline the importance of the interaction between simulant and additives in the choice of alternative fatty food simulants for rigid PVC.