Mineral oil (MOSH/MOAH) in Food
What is mineral oil?
Mineral Oils – MOH are certain fractions from oil refining. MOH is used in medicine, in the production of printing ink, cosmetic products, food packaging (wax paper, waxed cardboard), lubricating oil for machinery... Mineral oil is often divided into two main groups: saturated hydrocarbon mineral oils (MOSH) consisting of open-chain hydrocarbons (such as paraffins), saturated cyclic hydrocarbons (such as naphthenes) and aromatic hydrocarbon mineral oils (MOAH). MOH enters food from raw materials, through storage, transportation, manufacturing and packaging materials.
Why care about mineral oil?
MOAH can cause cancer in humans, alter genes, affect fertility. MOSH has the ability to accumulate in the liver, spleen, lymph nodes and other organs, causing damage to the above organs.
In May 2022, the EU Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SC PAFF) issued a draft on how to analyze as well as set the level of regulation on MOAH/MOSH as follows: after:
- Dry and low-fat foods (≤ 4% fat/oil): 0.5 mg/kg.
- Foods high in fat (>4% fat/oil): 1 mg/kg.
- Oil, grease: 2 mg/kg.
All food products with a MOAH above the threshold will be recalled in Europe.
In paper and paper boxes for food packaging, in Germany the following regulations:
- MOSH (segment C16 to C35) is 24 mg/kg.
- MOAH (segment C16 to C35) is 6 mg/kg.
Analytical method of mineral oil
In 2017, the European standards committee officially issued the standard EN 16995: 2017 guiding the analysis of mineral oil in vegetable oil. In 2019, the European Joint Research Center (JRC) issued a technical report guiding the sampling, sample handling, and processing of mineral oil analysis data in food & food contact packaging.
The general principle of mineral oil analysis methods is to homogenize the sample followed by extraction of the MOH with a suitable solvent, purification through a phase extraction column or an epoxidation reaction. Next, the sample extract was fractionated by liquid chromatography to separate MOAH/MOSH and analyzed quantitatively by gas chromatography with flame ionization detector (GC-FID).
The ability to analyze mineral oil at Eurofins Sac Ky Hai Dang
Eurofins Sac Ky Hai Dang has successfully deployed the method to analyze MOAH/MOSH in food and food contact packaging by GC-FID method based on the LC-GC-FID device.
This instrument is widely used within the Eurofins group for the analysis of mineral oils in food and packaging matrices. Currently, our method has been accredited to ISO 17025 for food matrices and food contact materials (FCM) with LOD and LOQ equivalent to laboratories in Europe.
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To send samples or find more information, please contact us at:
Eurofins Sac Ky Hai Dang
- Lot E2b-3, D6 Street, Hi-Tech Park, City. Thu Duc
- 4th floor - Building B, No. 103 Van Phuc Street, Ha Dong District, Hanoi
- Room 319, Vietnam - Korea High-Tech Incubator, Road No. 8, Industrial Park Tra Noc 2, O Mon District, City. Can Tho
Hotline: (+84) 28 7107 78 79 - press 1 (Sales Dept.)
Email: VN_CS@eurofinsasia.com