A Novel Information System for Studying the Interactions between Foods, Food Additives and Packaging Materials

The rapid advancement in food processing technology has brought alongside the benefits of increased food shelf life, market appealing and taste, a series of unwanted side effects, dealing, mainly, with the use of preservatives and flavour enhancements. In certain circumstances and favoured by out of the ordinary conditions a number of interactions may take place between the food additives and the food or packaging materials. This paper attempts to present an open-ended information system constructed on the available reference data from food and health fields that underline the above said types of interactions. Nowadays everything takes place in a fast pace and people do not give due weight to food. There are few interested in what, how or how much they eat and unfortunately those do not get all the information necessary to realize the potential hazards they are exposed to. Processing technologies, conservation and packaging are constantly evolving, manufacturers aim to extend the shelf life of food and therefore it is required a thorough investigation of food additives and of the ones used in the structure of the packaging in order to analyze the interactions that may occur and their effects on human health (1). The discovery of plastics was a moment of enormous progress in human history but lately researchers have discovered that plastics can harm health, especially the ones used for food packaging. Recent studies have demonstrated that some substances may levigate (leach out) from the packaging materials into the food (2). For example Bisphenol A (abbreviated as BPA), is most commonly considered as having harmful effects on consumers. Along with phthalates (substances that can also be transferred from plastics), BPA can play the role of "hormone disruptor". Once ingested, it produces hormonal dysfunctions, behavioural deviations, learning difficulties, hyperactivity and even aggressivity. It is associated with obesity and diabetes, can cause premature puberty installation, stimulates development of mammary glands as a risk factor for breast cancer, increases prostate size significantly and affects the immune system. It is also linked to miscarriage and abnormal foetal development (3- 6). On the other hand, food additives side effects are another issue that we should pay more attention to. For example, over 30 years ago, the artificial food coloring as well as certain fruits and vegetables containing salicylates and sugar have been claimed as being responsible for hyperactivity - ADHD on kids. Ever since, researchers have been studding this issue but the results are controversial (7). Although most packaging and additives used in the food industry are considered to be safe and without adverse health effects, under certain conditions incompatibilities may appear with negative implications for consumers.