Aluminium migration to orange juice in laminated paperboard packages

The migration of aluminium (Al) from aseptic laminated paperboard packages was studied by monitoring the Al content of orange juice (plain juice, no additives) filled into such packages and stored at ambient temperature (23°C) for up to 1 year. Analytical procedure includes MW-assisted digestion of orange juice with concentrated nitric acid followed by determination of Al concentration by double-focusing sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-SFMS). Special precautions were taken in order to reduce sample contamination at all stages of the procedure, resulting in a method detection limit of 5 μg L−1. In the concentration interval typical for orange juices reconstituted from concentrate, the combined measurement uncertainty of the method was within 10% RSD. Statistical tests performed on data sets representing the storage period from 12 h to 1 year revealed no time-dependent changes in Al concentration. Throughout all storage times, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months, the Al concentration is statistically undistinguishable from native concentration in the orange juice before filling into the packages.