FOOD PACKAGING TECHNOLOGY

Definitions of Packaging:

There are many ways of defining packaging reflecting different emphases.

A few partial definitions of packaging are as follows:

- A means for ensuring safe delivery of products to the consumer in sound condition at
minimal cost.
- An art, science, or technology required for preparing foods for transport, storage, or
sales elsewhere from the point of production.
- A technological and economic function aimed at minimizing costs of delivery while
maximizing sales.
- A coordinated system of preparing goods for transport, distribution, storage, retailing and
end-use.

Packaging must protect what it sells and sell what it protects. Physical damage and chemical
deterioration from mechanical and climatic hazards, as well as changes caused by microorganism
must be prevented.

Nature of foods and food process classification

Foods are of animal (beef or eggs), plant (mango or wheat flour) or mineral (salt or water)
origin, occurring as solids (roasted peanuts), liquids (milk), or semi-solids (ugali). They may be
perishable (mangoes), non-perishable (dried grains), processed (cheese), minimally processed
(pasteurized milk), or non-processed (fresh honey). In addition, foods may be intended for short-
term preservation (fresh meat) or long-term preservation (UHT milk). All these factors will
dictate the nature of packaging and storage conditions appropriate for the particular food.
 CATEGORIES OF PACKAGING MATERIALS:

Primary packaging is the main package that holds the food that is being processed (in
direct contact with the food or beverage.
Example: bottle and cap, carton).

Secondary or transit packaging combines the primary packages into one box being made
example a shrink-wrapped corrugated fibre board tray or case.
Example; Boxes of juice cartons

Tertiary packaging combines all of the secondary packages into one pallet, roll cage,
stretch wrap.
Example, Pallets - A series of boxes on a single pallet used to transport from the
manufacturing plant to a distribution center

LABELLING PACKAGES

To sell food and drink products, the label must be:

 clear and easy to read

 permanent
 easy to understand
 easily visible
 not misleading

You must show certain basic information and list the ingredients. You might also have to show
certain warnings.

- Production date
- Expiring date
- Storage condition
- Ingredients in order of amount
- Batch number
- Net weight
- Name of product
- Country code
- Name and address of the manufacturer
- Brand name
-
There are 6 main parts to the label:

 Statement of identity. This is the name of your product.

 Net quantity statement. How much of your product is in this package.
 Name and address of the manufacturer (or packer or distributor).
 Ingredient list.
 Nutrition fact label. This is sometimes optional.
 Allergy labeling, if any allergens are present.

ROLES OF FOOD PACKAGING

The principal roles of food packaging are to protect food products from outside influences and
damage, to contain the food, and to provide consumers with ingredient and nutritional
information. Traceability, convenience, and tamper indication are secondary functions of
increasing importance.

The goal is to contain food in a cost-effective way that satisfies industry requirements and
consumer desires, maintains food safety, and minimizes environmental impact.

1. Protection/preservation

Food packaging can retard product deterioration, retain the beneficial effects of processing,
extend shelf-life, and maintain or increase the quality and safety of food. In doing so, packaging
provides protection from 3 major classes of external influences: chemical, biological, and
physical.

Chemical protection minimizes compositional changes triggered by environmental influences

such as exposure to gases (typically oxygen), moisture (gain or loss), or light (visible, infrared,
or ultraviolet).

Many different packaging materials can provide a chemical barrier. Glass and metals provide a
nearly absolute barrier to chemical and other environmental agents, but few packages are purely
glass or metal since closure devices are added to facilitate both filling and emptying. Closure
devices may contain materials that allow minimal levels of permeability. For example, plastic
caps have some permeability to gases and vapors. Plastic packaging offers a large range of
barrier properties but is generally more permeable than glass or metal.

Biological protection provides a barrier to microorganisms (pathogens and spoiling agents),

insects, rodents, and other animals, thereby preventing disease and spoilage.

In addition, biological barriers maintain conditions to control senescence (ripening and aging).
Physical protection shields food from mechanical damage and includes cushioning against the
shock and vibration encountered during distribution. Typically developed from paperboard and
corrugated materials, physical barriers resist impacts, abrasions, and crushing damage, so they
are widely used as shipping containers and as packaging for delicate foods such as eggs and fresh
fruits. Appropriate physical packaging also protects consumers from various hazards.

2. Containment and food waste reduction

Any assessment of food packaging's impact on the environment must consider the positive
benefits of reduced food waste throughout the supply chain. Packaging reduces total waste by
extending the shelf-life of foods, thereby prolonging their usability.

3. Marketing

A package is the face of a product and often is the only product exposure consumers experience
prior to purchase.

Packaging can boost sales in a competitive environment.

4. Information.

Packaging conveys product information to the consumer, including description of food contents,
weight/volume ratio, manufacturer’s name, directions for use, sell-by date, and nutritional
content. Legal requirements, product ingredients, use etc

Additionally, the package conveys important information about the product such as cooking
instructions, brand identification, and pricing. All of these enhancements may impact waste
disposal.

5. Traceability

Food manufacturing companies incorporate unique codes onto the package labels of their
products; this allows them to track their products throughout the distribution process. Codes are
available in various formats (for example, printed barcodes or electronic radio frequency
identification and can be read manually and/or by machine.

6. Convenience

Convenience features such as ease of access, handling, and disposal

Oven-safe trays, boil-in bags, and microwavable packaging enable consumers to cook an entire
meal with virtually no preparation
Packaging materials

MATERIALS USED IN FOOD PACKAGING

Package design and construction play a significant role in determining the shelf life of a food
product. The right selection of packaging materials and technologies maintains product quality
and freshness during distribution and storage. Materials that have traditionally been used in food
packaging include glass, metals (aluminum, foils and laminates, tinplate, and tin-free steel),
paper and paperboards, and plastics.

Moreover, a wider variety of plastics have been introduced in both rigid and flexible forms.

1. Paper

When used as primary packaging (that is, in contact with food), paper is almost always treated,
coated, laminated, or impregnated with materials such as waxes, resins, or lacquers to improve
functional and protective properties

Paper is a low cost, popular, readily available, and versatile packaging material. It accounts
for about 50% of all packaging. Paper can be used as flexible pouches for primary packaging as
well as more rigid outer secondary food packages. Flexible papers are used as overwraps, bags,
or liners. Examples include Kraft paper, greaseproof paper, glassine, and waxed paper.

Paperboard . Paperboard is thicker than paper with a higher weight per unit area and often made
in multiple layers. It is commonly used to make containers for shipping—such as boxes, cartons,
and trays

2. Plastics

Plastics for food packaging are either commodity plastics or barrier plastics. ‘’Commodity
plastics’’ (e.g. polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, and polyvinyl chloride) are low cost
and have relatively poor oxygen barrier property. ‘’Barrier plastics’’ (e.g. polyvinylidene
chloride and ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer) are relatively expensive but exhibit much better
oxygen barrier property.

The major disadvantage of plastics is their variable permeability to light, gases, vapors, and low
molecular weight molecules

Plastics are extremely useful as they can be made in either soft or hard forms, as sheets or
containers, and with different thickness, light resistance, and flexibility. The filling and sealing
of plastic containers is similar to glass containers.

Flexible films are the most common form of plastic. Generally, flexible films have the following
properties:
 - Their cost is relatively low

- They have good barrier properties against moisture and gases

- They are heat sealable to prevent leakage of contents
- They have wet and dry strength
- They are easy to handle and convenient for the manufacturer, retailer, and consumer
- They add little weight to the product
- They fit closely to the shape of the product, thereby wasting little space during storage
and distribution.

3. Glass

Glass is one of the oldest packaging materials. It was initially used for packaging wines. The use
of glass for packaging heat-processed foods began in 1804. Glass is a desirable package for
foods because it does not react with foods, has excellent barrier properties, transparent,
reusable, reasonably strong, easy to open, can be moulded into any shape, and usable on
many filling machines. However, glass is heavy, breakable, and susceptible to sudden
temperature shocks.

Glass containers used in food packaging are often surface-coated to provide lubrication in the
production line and eliminate scratching or surface abrasion and line jams. Glass coatings also
increase and preserve the strength of the bottle to reduce breakage. Improved break resistance
allows manufacturers to use thinner glass, which reduces weight and is better for disposal and
transportation (McKown 2000).

Because it is odorless and chemically inert with virtually all food products, glass has several
advantages which make it a popular choice for food-packaging applications:

- Glass is able to withstand heat treatments such as pasteurization and sterilization

- It does not react with food

- It is rigid and protects the food from crushing and bruising
- It is impervious to moisture, gases, odors and microorganisms
- It is re-usable, re-sealable and recyclable
- It is transparent, allowing products to be displayed. Colored glass may be used either to
protect the food from light or to attract customers.
- The transparency of glass allows consumers to see the product
- Variations in glass color can protect light-sensitive contents
- Glass packaging benefits the environment because it is reusable and recyclable.

Despite its many advantages, glass does have certain constraints:

 - Glass is heavier than many other packaging materials and this may lead to higher
transport costs

- It is easy to fracture, scratch and break if heated or cooled too quickly

- Susceptible to breakage from internal pressure, impact, or thermal shock.

4. Metals

Metal is the most versatile of all packaging forms. It offers a combination of excellent physical
protection and barrier properties, formability and decorative potential, recyclability, and
consumer acceptance.

The 2 metals most predominantly used in packaging are aluminum and steel.

Aluminium cans are used mainly for beer and soft drinks packaging, while aluminium foils are
used as laminates, retortable pouches, microwavable trays, and foil liddings.

Metal cans have a number of advantages over other types of containers:

- they provide total protection of the contents

- they are tamperproof
- they are convenient for presentation.
- - Metal packaging is resistant to physical shocks. Therefore metal packaging has a low
cost of storing, loading and shipping.

5. Fiber/Textiles

Sisal bags have been used extensively for packaging dried cereal and pulse grains, coffee,
potatoes, sugar, and tea leaves (on transit to the factory). However, plastics bags (woven or
moulded) are fast replacing sisal bags.
Factors To Consider On Choosing a packaging material

1. Mechanical properties

The packaging material must be strong enough to prevent physical damage to the food (e.g.
bruising of fruits and vegetables and breakage of biscuits) and to other packaging materials (e.g.
glass bottles in fiberboard containers).

2. Physical Chemical properties

These properties include transmission properties like permeability to gases, water vapours,
odours, and extractability test.

The packaging material must be able to protect the final physical nature of the food after
processing as well as protect the environment around the food. To do this, the material must be
able to control the movement of water, water vapor, oils and gases. It must also protect against
UV-light and heat gains and losses where necessary.

This group covers basically the physical strength and performance properties of packages
on converting or packaging equipment. The different properties are thickness, tensile and
elongation, heat seal strength, bond strength, hot tack, shrinkage, flex resistance
co-efficient of friction, pin holes, de-lamination, identification, leakage test, dart impact,
seam strength, environmental stress crack resistance, closure leakage test, adhesion test,
torque test.

3. Optical Properties
These properties include haze and gloss.
Besides the above, tests which are carried out for ascertaining the quality of the packaging
material or its conformity to laid down specifications, there are some other studies which are of
great significance while developing packaging systems or selecting packaging materials for
food products. These are:
• Extractability / migration test
• Shelf-life Determination and Compatibility

4. Chemical and biochemical properties

The package material must offer protection against chemical and biochemical spoilage by
maintaining an environment around the food that reduces or prevents deteriorative chemical and
biochemical spoilage reactions. Products of chemical deterioration must also not migrate into the
food in any large quantities (e.g. corrosion of tin cans).

5. Microbiological aspects
The packaging material must be able to protect the food and prevent contamination from external
sources. The package environment should be able to slow or prevent the growth of undesirable
microorganisms in or on the food by use of anaerobic conditions or inert gas atmosphere.

6. Insect and rodent infestation

The package material must protect against insect and rodent infestation, particularly in bulk
storage, in open warehouses, or where consumer storage conditions are likely to be inadequate.
Paper may not be suitable here but laminates can provide the necessary protection.

7. Nature of the food to be packed

 The package material must not contaminate the food by leakage or migration of toxic
elements from it to the food.
 The final condition of the processed food will determine the nature of packaging material
(is the food raw or fresh, is packaging required for processing, etc.).
 Susceptibility to microbial and insect attack and inherent flora will influence the nature of
packaging material.
 If the food is still respiring or undergoing postmortem changes, the package material
must be chosen to control the in-package changes.
 Many foods possess an odor or are susceptible to aroma loss or odor pick-up during
storage. The packaging material must be selected to resist odors in the manufacturer
stores and in the consumer’s home environment.
 The packaging material must be easy to handle for rapid and uninterrupted production
and should allow for easy retrieval of the food by the consumer.

8. Availability and cost

The package material must be easily available at a reasonable cost.