Summary
Thoroughly considering and optimizing packaging systems can avoid food loss and waste. We suggest a number of issues that must be explored and review the associated challenges. Five main ...issues were recognized through the extensive experience of the authors and engagement of multiple stakeholders. The issues promoted are classified as follows: (1) identify and obtain specific data of packaging functions that influence food waste; (2) understand the total environmental burden of product/package by considering the trade‐off between product protection and preservation and environmental footprint; (3) develop understanding of how these functions should be treated in environmental footprint evaluations; (4) improve packaging design processes to also consider reducing food waste; and (5) analyze stakeholder incentives to reduce food loss and waste. Packaging measures that save food will be important to fulfill the United Nations Sustainable Development goal to halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and to reduce food losses along production and supply chains.
There is a strong drive in industry for packaging solutions that contribute to sustainable development by targeting a circular economy, which pivots around the recyclability of the packaging ...materials. The aim is to reduce traditional plastic consumption and achieve high recycling efficiency while maintaining the desired barrier and mechanical properties. In this domain, packaging materials in the form of polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) can offer the desired functionalities and can be a potential replacement for complex multilayered polymer structures. There has been an increasing interest in nanocomposites for food packaging applications, with a five-fold rise in the number of published articles during the period 2010-2019. The barrier, mechanical, and thermal properties of the polymers can be significantly improved by incorporating low concentrations of nanofillers. Furthermore, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties can be introduced, which are very relevant for food packaging applications. In this review, we will present an overview of the nanocomposite materials for food packaging applications. We will briefly discuss different nanofillers, methods to incorporate them in the polymer matrix, and surface treatments, with a special focus on the barrier, antimicrobial, and antioxidant properties. On the practical side migration issues, consumer acceptability, recyclability, and toxicity aspects will also be discussed.
Challenges of using recycled polymer materials in food packaging are related both to the properties of the material and demanding safety issues for food contact materials. The aim of this research ...was to detect possible risks using recycled post-consumer plastic waste in three-layered polyethylene (PE) films produced with virgin outer layers and a mid-layer from recycled flexible PE material. Migration tests were performed as risk assessment for identifying possible migrating substances from the mid-recycled layer. Overall migration was determined on various 3-layered structures made from virgin low-density PE (LDPE) and virgin linear low-density PE (LLDPE), respectively, with two different recycled PE from post-consumer waste (R1 and R2). 95% ethanol was used as a simulant for screening at 20, 40 and 60 °C for 10 days. Specific migration was performed using sophisticated analytical techniques (liquid and gas chromatography). Overall migration values for all temperatures were from < 2 mg/dm2 at lowest and 5.6 ± 0.1 mg/dm2 at highest temperature, thus well below the overall migration limit (OML) of 10 mg/dm2. Specific migration of intentionally and non-intentionally added substances were detected, identified and quantified. Similarly, specific migration values were under specific migration limit (SML) defined in legislation. Optical properties of the reference samples were significantly different in appearance and on cross section for samples with recycled materials R1 compared to recycled material R2 which caused only slight changes in the appearance of both reference films. This research presents a valuable study on migration from recycled flexible PE films and use of recycled materials in food packaging applications. Use of virgin materials as outer layer in combination with commercially available recycled material can increase the use of recycled materials in packaging as well as reduce the total amount of flexible plastic solid waste.
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•Potential use of recycled flexible polyethylene in food packaging.•Screening test: migration analysis with 95% ethanol at 20, 40 and 60 °C.•Migration values were below the overall and specific migration limit.•Visual optical properties were influenced by addition of recycled mid-layer.
Layer-by-layer assembly (LbL) of trilayer coatings of polyelectrolytes and nanoclays (NC) were produced on poly(lactic acid) based (PLAb) films. The focus of this study was on the optimization of the ...wetting properties of the PLAb substrate, and the adhesion properties of the prepared coating. Coatings produced by an optimized method, by combining UVC-treatment of the substrate and adjusting surface tension of the coating solutions, were compared to coatings made by typically used water-based solutions. Even though LbL-coatings with a high adhesion strength to its substrate is of outmost importance for most applications, this is often not evaluated. In this study, the adhesion of the coatings on the PLAb substrate was assessed using the cross-cut test according to ISO 2409, in which the adhesion is classified on a scale between 0 and 5, where a lower number reflects better adhesion. The coating prepared by the optimized procedure was categorized as class 0, while the control film was classified as 4. These results reveal the importance of the optimization of both the surface free energy of the substrate, and the surface tension of the dipping solutions. The surface morphology and roughness properties of the optimized films were further investigated with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), confocal optical microscopy (COM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), showing a uniform distribution of NC on the substrate with increasing number of trilayers. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed the homogenous surface composition of polyelectrolytes and NC. Finally, the oxygen transmission rate (OTR) decreased considerably (by 99.7%), from 97.2 cc/(m2·day) for pristine PLAb substrate to 0.3 cc/(m2·day) for the 20-trilayer coated substrate.
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•Greatly improved oxygen barrier properties of a poly(lactic acid) based material.•Surface evaluations on nano- and microscale reveal a uniform barrier coating.•The optimized coating has a superior adhesion strength.
Fatty foods are very susceptible to lipid oxidation caused by oxygen and light. To minimize this issue, active bioplastic materials are suitable for food packaging. In this work, the feasibility of ...blending locust bean milling derived dust (LBMD) with potato starch to develop heat-sealable bioplastic films for packaging sliced cheese and oat cookies was studied. Blending LBMD with starch allowed to obtain bioplastic films 2-fold more rigid (Young's modulus of ca. 48 MPa) and 1.3-fold more resistant to water (water contact angle of ca. 87°) than LBMD-based films (Young's modulus of ca. 12 MPa and water contact angle of ca. 47°), maintaining their UV protective capacity. LBMD/starch-based bioplastic films were used to pack cheese, with no molds or yeasts grown after 21 days, similar to petroleum-based plastic packages used as reference. Despite cheese dehydration (ca. 10% weight loss), its texture did not significantly change after the storage period. An increase (ca. 43%) in volatile compounds derived from cheese oxidation was observed after 7 days of storage. When used to pack oat cookies, LBMD/starch-based bioplastic films played an active role in decreasing oxidation-derived volatile compounds after 21 days of storage, maintaining their textural properties, when compared to oat cookies packaged with petroleum-based plastic. Therefore, blending LBMD with starch revealed to be a proper strategy to develop heat-sealable and active bioplastic films with water absorption, protection against UV radiation, volatile compounds scavenging capacity, and antioxidant activity suitable to preserve fatty foodstuffs while providing them new characteristics.
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•Blending locust bean milling dust (LBMD) and starch leads to sealable packaging.•Starch can be used to tailor the rigidity of LBMD-based packaging.•LBMD/starch bioplastic films contribute to cheese dehydration.•LBMD/starch package maintains the initial oat cookies properties.
Design and development of novel inorganic nanocarriers for encapsulation of natural antimicrobial substances for food packaging applications have received great interest during the last years. ...Natural nanoclays are the most investigated nanocarriers and recently interest has also grown in the synthetically produced porous silica particles. However, these different carrier matrices have not been compared in terms of their loading capability and subsequent release. In this study, the feasibility of porous silica particles (with different pore structures and/or surface functionalities) and commercially available nanoclays were evaluated as encapsulation matrices. Two well-studied antimicrobial substances, thymol and curcumin, were chosen as volatile and non-volatile model compounds, respectively. The encapsulation efficiency, and the subsequent dispersibility and release, of these substances differed significantly among the nanocarriers. Encapsulation of the volatile compound highly depends on the inner surface area, i.e., the protective pore environment, and an optimal nanocarrier can protect the encapsulated thymol from volatilization. For the non-volatile compound, only the release rate and dispersibility are affected by the pore structure. Further, water-activated release of the volatile compound was demonstrated and exhibited good antimicrobial efficacy in the vapor phase against
. This comparative study can provide a base for selecting the right nanocarrier aimed at a specific food packaging application. No nanocarrier can be considered as a universally applicable one.
Food packaging solutions need to be redesigned to be more sustainable, but determining which solution is ‘more optimal’ is a very difficult task when considering the entire food product value chain. ...Previous papers paved the way toward a sustainable food packaging definition, but it is far from being commonly accepted or well usable in the broad food systems domain, which further results in uninformed choices for sustainable food packaging made by all stakeholders in the value chain: producers, distributors, practitioners and consumers. Therefore, this work aims first at giving a state-of-the-art overview of sustainable food packaging terms (38 similar terms were identified and grouped into four clusters: Sustainable, Circular, Bio and Other sustainable packaging) and definitions using systematic (narrative) review analysis and ‘controlled expert opinion feedback’ methodology. Second, it aims to offer an updated definition for sustainable food packaging, which is also specific to food packaging and be simple, coherent, easily understandable, and communicable to everybody. The applied holistic approach intends to include all aspects of the food-packaging unit, to consider food safety and packaging functionality, while taking into account different disciplines and challenges related to food packaging along the supply chain. Being a balancing act, a sustainable food packaging may not be a perfect solution, but contextual, suboptimal and in need of constant validation.
The focus on sustainability and circular economy is leading to a need for development of new food packaging concepts, including recyclable materials that ideally consist of a single material in a ...monolayer system. This research was focused on the possibility of replacing complex multilayered material amorphous polyethylene terephthalate/polyethylene (APET/PE) with simple recyclable mono material high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) for packaging of chicken fillets in modified atmosphere packaging (CO2/N2: 60%/40%). Bacterial growth measured as total viable count (TVC), lactic acid bacteria and Enterobacteriaceae, Brochothrix thermosphacta and Escherichia coli for chicken fillets packed in HDPE mono materials was compared with chicken fillets packed in APET/PE.
TVC increased during the storage period (24 days) with high level of TVC count (7 log10 CFU/g) recorded at Days 19–20 of storage in both HDPE and APET/PE material. No significant differences were recorded in off‐odour between chicken stored in APET/PE compared with HDPE in CO2/N2 atmosphere during the storage period (samples were regarded as acceptable on the 24th day of storage). The drip loss increased in all samples during storage, and no significant differences between samples stored in different materials were recorded.
Significant differences in bacterial growth were recorded between samples with different gas volume to product volume (G/P) ratio (Day 17), implying that higher G/P ratio is resulting in lower TVC count. The lowest G/P ratio caused the highest drip loss, whereas addition of CO2 emitter reduced the drip loss to some extent.
This research is very encouraging as it provides new insight into the use of monolayer materials as well as the importance of design for recycling in circular economy.
The possibility of packaging chicken fillets in recyclable mono materials high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) instead of complex multilayered materials amorphous polyethylene terephthalate/polyethylene (APET/PE) as a replacement for more sustainable packaging system was studied. This study showed that the recyclable mono materials can be used for packaging of fresh chicken fillets without jeopardizing the shelf life. Outcome of this research presents a step forward in design for recycling, increase in recycling rates and less food packaging waste.
Active Packaging Applications for Food Yildirim, Selçuk; Röcker, Bettina; Pettersen, Marit Kvalvåg ...
Comprehensive reviews in food science and food safety,
January 2018, 2018-Jan, 2018-01-00, 20180101, Letnik:
17, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The traditional role of food packaging is continuing to evolve in response to changing market needs. Current drivers such as consumer's demand for safer, “healthier,” and higher‐quality foods, ...ideally with a long shelf‐life; the demand for convenient and transparent packaging, and the preference for more sustainable packaging materials, have led to the development of new packaging technologies, such as active packaging (AP). As defined in the European regulation (EC) No 450/2009, AP systems are designed to “deliberately incorporate components that would release or absorb substances into or from the packaged food or the environment surrounding the food.” Active packaging materials are thereby “intended to extend the shelf‐life or to maintain or improve the condition of packaged food.” Although extensive research on AP technologies is being undertaken, many of these technologies have not yet been implemented successfully in commercial food packaging systems. Broad communication of their benefits in food product applications will facilitate the successful development and market introduction. In this review, an overview of AP technologies, such as antimicrobial, antioxidant or carbon dioxide‐releasing systems, and systems absorbing oxygen, moisture or ethylene, is provided, and, in particular, scientific publications illustrating the benefits of such technologies for specific food products are reviewed. Furthermore, the challenges in applying such AP technologies to food systems and the anticipated direction of future developments are discussed. This review will provide food and packaging scientists with a thorough understanding of the benefits of AP technologies when applied to specific foods and hence can assist in accelerating commercial adoption.
The potato chip industry generates brownish frying residues, which are usually landfilled. While spent frying oil has value as biodiesel, the defatted brownish water-soluble extract (BrE) does not ...yet have an application. In this work, it was hypothesized that BrE can be a source of compounds for active packaging. BrE is composed of carbohydrates (66.9%), protein (5.7%), and a small amount of phenolics and esterified fatty acids. When incorporated into starch-based formulations and casted, BrE at 5%, 10%, and 15%
/
(dry starch weight) conferred a yellowish coloration while maintaining the transparency of neat films. The BrE increased the films' traction resistance, elasticity, and antioxidant activity while decreasing their hydrophilicity. Furthermore, starch/15% BrE-based films showed diminished water vapor and good UV-light barrier properties. Their contact with sliced cheese did not change the products' hardness during storage (14 days). Weight loss of the cheese was observed after 7 days of storage, stabilizing at 6.52%, contrary to the cheese packed in polyamide (PA)/polyethylene (PE), already used in food packaging. The cheese packed in the starch/15% BrE-based films showed a significant yellowish darkening and lower content of volatile oxidation products compared to the PA/PE. Therefore, BrE revealed to have compounds with the potential to tune the performance of starch-based films for food packaging.
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