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Why do we pack food?
A lot of food already has its own natural packaging. For example; an orange. The skin protects it from damage, keeps the inner clean and hygienic and keeps it fresh for as long as it can be. And its bright orange colour makes it look attractive to eat. Wrapping it in plastic, or anything else for that matter, would be a waste of time and detrimental to the environment.
However, wrap a cucumber in plastic and it lasts 3 times longer than an unwrapped one. Cool as a … well you know!
Packaging plays a most crucial role in ensuring food safety. Food safety is highly critical to maintain the wellbeing and health of consumers. Packaging endures shipping, material handling, and storage of the packaged food. If food packaging integrity is not well maintained and tested, food safety can be compromised a lot. Packaging protects the food from external elements, contamination, heat, physical damage, and much more. Thus, proper packaging keeps your food products as safe as possible.
Why is food packaging crucial to ensure food safety.
Firstly, it protects from contamination
All food products are at risk of contamination from pollutants and bacteria. Those that undergo shipping or storage for an extended period are at an even higher risk of contamination. That’s one of the major reasons why the right packaging and testing that packaging integrity is important. Food manufacturers take quality control measures in their food packaging applications very seriously and use leak and seal integrity testers. Faulty packaging not only impacts the quality and integrity of the food product but also can affect the health of the consumers.
Secondly, it improves the shelf life of the product
Correct packaging can significantly increase the shelf life of the food product. Poor packaging leads to shorter shelf life that, in turn, causes food health problems. Most people assume that preserving food products at low temperatures will improve their shelf life. However, the food inside the package will still decompose if it is exposed to oxygen. Some items like salad leaves are sold in bags which have had nitrogen gas pumped into them which keeps them fresh and crispy far longer than if they were left in normal air.
Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) is where the ‘atmosphere’ inside a pack is modified, for example the air is replaced with nitrogen. Another way is vacuum packing which sucks out the air but doesn’t replace it with anything.
Thirdly, it protects the food from damage
The integrity of your food product can be compromised by physical damage even if it is properly sealed and protected from the contaminants. Crisp packs are often filled with nitrogen to extend shelf life but also to protect the fragile crisps inside from being crushed in the transit cartons. That is why sturdy transit packaging is important to protect food products from physical damages caused during material handling, shipping, and warehousing.
Finally, it maintains the freshness of the food
Food producers want the consumer to enjoy their product at its best so that they will buy it again. The right packaging can make sure this happens. The film packaging will be bespoke for individual products. The choice of film and lamination of different webs will be made based on the requirements of the product. For example, light, gas and water barriers. Is a special sealing layer required to seal through powder. What type of packing line is being used. What shelf life is actually required?
The innovation in food packaging technology has also made it possible to send food around the World for consumption. We have been spoiled for choice of exotic fruits and vegetables being available all year round. No matter which part of the world a food product is sourced from, consumers can enjoy fresh food if it is preserved in the right packaging under the right circumstances.
Other reasons for packaging
Presentation
We’re used to our food looking nice. As many people say, we shop with our eyes. If you compare a sparkling clean supermarket with everything laid out neatly and nicely with the way older stores used to display food it is clear that food is now better presented than ever. And better presentation means not only more confidence in the food we buy but also means we’re likely to buy more of it. “That looks nice” is a commonly heard comment in a supermarket before someone adds something to their trolley.
Marketing
Branding is stronger than ever before. Large brands can charge a premium for their product because people know and like it. And the packaging is how they sell the product. If it weren’t for the designs, the logos and the catch phrases, not only would food products probably look far less valuable (meaning we wouldn’t be willing to pay as much) but we’d probably be far less likely to buy the premium brands.
Practicality
Lastly there is the issue of practicality. Supermarkets are a “pile it high, sell it cheap” business where staffing must be kept to a minimum. If you didn’t put breakfast cereal into boxes or fizzy drinks into cans and bottles, how would customers easily buy it? The supermarkets couldn’t afford staff members to be measuring things out into your own containers or their whole business model would break down. Also if packaging wasn’t used to extend shelf life a large proportion of the items on sale in our supermarkets wouldn’t be viable. And let’s face it we are all used to our Avocado Toast Instagram pictures!
Food waste
According to a 2021 report from the United Nations Environment Programme, if food loss and waste were a country it would be the third biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions making it a major contributor to the three planetary crises of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. The aim is to halve food waste and reduce food loss by 2030. The report estimates that around 931 million tonnes of food waste was generated in 2019, 61% came from households, 26% from food service and 13% from retail. This suggests that 17% of total global food production may be wasted.
The drive to reduce plastic packaging indiscriminately to ‘help the planet’ would push up food waste even more. Food waste has a much higher carbon impact than packaging.
Multiple lifecycle analyses from all around the World highlight that all the alternative packaging materials to plastic, including paper, board, glass, or aluminium /tin, consume more of the Earth’s resources and generate more CO₂ emissions in their usage and manufacture than plastic. A 2019 report, from the European Institute of Energy & Environmental Research concluded;
‘Replacing alternative packaging materials with plastic would reduce the EU’s carbon emissions from packaging by circa 22 million tonnes P.A. (30%) - even if none of the plastic was recycled’.
As an example, any supermarket changing to paper bags from plastic bags has a negative environmental effect of some 90%, due to the extra energy used (x2) and extra water (x 12) in their manufacture and distribution (2015 life cycle analysis assessment from the Scottish Government). Manufacturing glass and aluminium are highly energy intensive processes with resultant high CO₂ emissions. Thus, once again, adding to Global Warming.
Plastic is lightweight, flexible, inert, low cost and infinitely variable in its end use. For example, a glass milk bottle weighs circa 460g, 25 times heavier than its plastic equivalent. It is produced and transported ‘flat’ and only inflated on filling enabling one HG vehicle carrying plastic bottles to replace 14 similar HG vehicles carrying glass.
A paper bag is at least 4 times heavier than its plastic equivalent, whilst a cardboard container is up to 8-10 times heavier than its plastic counterpart. Whilst aluminium does not have such a large weight disadvantage, it is estimated there are 2.5 billion tonnes of untreatable toxic sludge located around the World (mostly in China) as a by-product of aluminium manufacture.
For those of us who remember The Fast Show from the 1990’s “Int packaging BRILLIANT!”
