A synthetic iron containing kaolinite was evaluated as an oxygen scavenger additive for food packaging plastics
having an active performance of ca. 43 ml O2/g at 100%RH and of ca. 37 ml O2/g of additive at 50%RH. The
corresponding polyolefin films containing 10wt.% of the active filler also exhibited significant oxygen scavenger
activity (up to 4.3 ml of oxygen/g composite, at 24 °C and 100%RH). The effect of oxygen scavenging capacity of
HDPE films with temperature and %RH was also assessed. The oxygen permeability tests carried out after inac-
tivation of the additive suggested that the iron containing clay plays in fact a dual oxygen fighting role: active
performance (trapping and reactingwithmolecular oxygen) aswell as a passive barrier performance (imposing
a more tortuous diffusion path to the permeant). Migration tests into two food simulants indicated that iron
(from active ingredient) and aluminum (from clay migration) are hardly detectable in commonly used
simulants. This study suggests that there is significant potential for the use of this novel oxygen scavenger ad-
ditive to constitute active packaging of value in the shelf-life extension of oxygen sensitive food products.
Industrial relevance: Oxygen penetration in food and beverages leads to, for instance, oxidative rancidity of unsat-
urated fats, loss of vitamin C, browning of freshmeat, oxidation of aromatic flavor oils and pigments and fostering
the growth of aerobic spoilagemicroorganisms. These undesirable effects on the product quality indicate that the
elimination or exclusion of oxygen is one of themain targets for preserving foods and beverages in the food pack-
aging industry. The industrial relevance of this study is very significant because it proves that the technology gen-
erated and characterized in the paper can uniquely fight oxygen by two means, i.e active and passive
performance. This should enable the food packaging industry to package foods in relatively inexpensive, lowbar-
rier commodity plasticmaterials such as polyolefins, thatwill allowthe shelf-life extension of the packaged prod-
ucts with a safe use, since migration of the components is negligible.