Metal Migration into Food in Canned Products - A Review.

When foods are canned and stored in metal cans, interactions may occur between the cans and their contents which in turn may lead to corrosion damage to the can. This is primarily true for the so-called 'critical food products'. Yet, sporadic corrosion damage was observed also with products usually not known as corrosive agents. The first chapter discusses the most important substances which in metal cans will cause or accelerate corrosion, and deals with the dependence of corrosion on the storage time and temperature. Apart from the damage to the can, corrosion also leads to an accumulation of dissolved metal in the canned product. Literature data are surveyed in order to specify the ranges of metal uptake found in various canned foods. These values are discussed in relation to the maximum values tolerated or specified by law and indications are given which concentrations of metal may be regarded as tolerable or as injurious to health according to latest scientific findings. In conclusion, possible ways of further reducing the metal uptake in canned foods are suggested.