Total Migration of Poly Ethylene Terephthalate and Heavy Metals into non-alcoholic Malt Beverage Simulant during Shelf Life

Plasticizers in plastic packaging materials, including terephthalate esters, can migrate into foods during storage, which can lead to safety and sensory food quality issues. In this study, the total migration rate of terephthalate esters from PET bottles into carbonated malt beverages was investigated at temperatures of 5, 20, and 40 °C during 30 days of storage in an acidic food simulant (acetic acid 3%). The total migration rate was evaluated after 10, 20 and 30 days. The data were in accordance with the Arrhenius equation, and the activation energy was studied at the above temperatures. The results showed that the migration process increased with increasing time and temperature. Changing the temperature from 5 to 45 °C significantly increased the diffusion coefficient of the migrating component (p < 0.05). The data had a good fit with the Arrhenius equation, and this model explained the dependence of the diffusion coefficient on temperature. A significant increase in activation energy was observed with increasing temperature. Migration of heavy metals under severe test conditions (40 °C during 30 days’ storage) showed that the migration rate of metals (Cr, Pb, As, Hg and Cd) was lower than the value specified by the European standard. In general, it can be said that the obtained data prove the safety of PET packaging containers for carbonated malt beverages, since the refrigerator temperature is the usual storage temperature for carbonated malt beverages.