Dr. Fazilah AriffinDr. Fazilah AriffinSchool of Industrial Technology

Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia

Food PACKAGINGFood PACKAGING

“A package must protect what it sells and sell what it protects” Nearly all products been packed

Australian Institute of Packaging“ The preparation of goods for shipment and marketing”

Robertson, G – An Introduction to packaging for Food Technologists“Packaging is the protection of foods by means of containers designed to prevent damage to the foods by outside influence”

Mason, R.L “ Packaging is the protection of food from outside influence and the preparation of these food for shipment and marketing”

Definitions

Industry turnover $3.2 Employment 65 000 people Total industry figures which includes converters,

raw material suppliers and manufacturers and non food applicants

66% of all packaging – food Main users of food packaging

- Beer 14% - Soft drinks 10%

- Dairy products 9%- Fruit & vegetables 7.5%- Meat products 4.5%- Bakery products 3.5%

Nearly all food products end up packaged

Importance of packagingImportance of packaging

a. PRESERVATION

• Preservation = process & package

- Heat – cans, bottles, plastics, paper

- Dry – cans, paper, plastics, foil

- Freeze – plastics, paper, foil, cans

• Ensure quality & safety

Functions of a PackageFunctions of a Package

b.b. PROTECTPROTECT

i) Physical damages- Eggs broken (60 x 106) in China (2003)- Fruits and vegetables- Damaged cans- Transport- Compression- Vibration- Impact

ii) Contamination- Dirt, dust, insects and rodents- Microorganisms

iii) Physical changes- H2O in/out

iv) Chemical changes- Oxidation (H2O, light, O2, temperature) Loss of volatile flavour Off-flavour and taints

Channel Leak

- Usually occurs at package seal.- Channel length equals seal length.

Pin Hole Leak- Usually occurs in package wall.- Pin hole length equals material thickness

TWO TYPES OF LEAKS

c. CONVENIENCECONVENIENCE

TV dinners/ microwave Ovenable trays Aerosol Portion packs (milk, tea, coffee) Boil in bag Easy open/closure (can/bottle)- ziplock tube

d. COMMUNICATION/MARKETING – SILENT COMMUNICATION/MARKETING – SILENT SALESMANSALESMAN

- First interaction between consumer and product Product identity (logo, colour, shape)- eye catching Manufacturer Quantity Price Ingredients Nutritional information Use by date

e. FACILITATE HANDLING – EASY TO HANDLEFACILITATE HANDLING – EASY TO HANDLE

• Cartooning• Shrink wrapping• Palletizing• Containers• Bulk’

Cucumber

A cucumber is 96% water which it begins to lose as soon as it is picked.

After 3 days, it has lost so much water becomes dull, limp and unsalable.

Wrapping plastic film extends its shelf life to 14 days and it lasts longer at home.

f. Preventing more waste.

particularly important for food that is often eaten raw or straight from the pack

Traditionally grapes were sold in loose bunches in an open tray - consumer selected and paid by weight at the checkout.

Some of the grapes inevitably fell off -discarded by the shop, fell on the floor - were potentially hazardous if slipped on.

Now sold either in bags or sealed trays- so that the loose ones stay with the bunch and there’s no danger of slipping.

Has reduced waste in store typically by over 20%.

Grapes

Prepared salads typically contain three or four varieties of washed,cut, ready-to-eat salad leaves - a bag specially designed to contain a MAP- keeps the leaves fresh - extends shelf life.

X bag and MAP edges and stalks quickly go brown.

If consumers bought individual lettuces to create the same mixture at home, 11x amount of salad produce 4 X the cost and there would be 5-10X more waste.

Modified atmosphere bags make a significant contribution to reducing food waste.

Prepared salads

Bananas natural packaging: their skins. That makes people think further wrapping in a plastic bag is wasteful and unnecessary.

large amounts of bananas over-ripen and are thrown away. WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), reports UK consumers throw away 1.6 million bananas a day.

Wrapping in MAP bag greatly reduces waste because the bag: - absorbs the ripening gas ethylene bananas give off, extending shelf life by 2-3 days so fewer fruits become waste. - prevents the ethylene affecting other nearby fruit and vegetables, stopping them ripening too quickly.- prevents shoppers breaking bunches up, which bruises the fruit and which leaves odd bananas that are unsold and get wasted.

Bananas

bananas storedfor 7 days loose and in a modifiedatmosphere bag

• Deceptive packaging (misleading)

• Over packaging

• Environmental issues

- waste disposable

- biodegradability

- recycleability/reusable

• Cost

• Package interaction- corrosion of tinplate- migration of monomers (laksa,soto)- shelf life

Things are not always what they seem to be

Packaging concernsPackaging concerns

RAW MATERIAL RAW MATERIAL

PRIMARYPRIMARY (bottle)(bottle)

SECONDARYSECONDARY(shrink wrap)(shrink wrap)

TERTIARYTERTIARY(carton)(carton)

QUATERNARYQUATERNARY(palletise(palletise)

Packaging systems

PENTERNARYPENTERNARY(containerise)(containerise)

(a) Metal - Tinplate- Aluminium

(b) Glass

(c) Paper/paperboard

(d) Plastics - Flexible films - Semi rigid plastics

Packaging materials