Food packaging

[1][2] Additionally, current trends like sustainability, environmental impact reduction, and shelf-life extension have gradually become among the most important aspects in designing a packaging system.

1960s: Development of the two-piece drawn and wall-ironed[further explanation needed] metal cans in the US, along with the ring-pull opener and the Tetra Brik Aseptic carton package.

Plastic packaging saw its inaugural use during World War II, even though materials employed in its manufacturing (such as cellulose nitrate, styrene and vinyl chloride) were discovered in the 1800s.

[17] Additionally, by enabling the creation and standardization of brands, it provides the opportunity to realized significant advertising, extensive distribution, and mass merchandising.

Primary packaging is directly in contact with the food products, creating the ideal headspace for them while providing protection from external alteration.

[5] Typically, the packaging materials used in the primary level include cardboard cartons, plastic trays, glass bottle and multi-layerd structure (Tetra Pak).

Thus, the secondary level is a physical distribution carrier for the primary packages, making more easy to handle during the transportation.

In the UK, a Local Government Association survey produced by the British Market Research Bureau compared a range of outlets to buy 29 common food items, and found that small local retailers and market traders "produced less packaging and more that could be recycled than the larger supermarkets.

[26] Developed with funding from the European Union Erasmus+ program, this platform includes learning to optimise many sometimes contradictory criteria across all aspects of food packaging from its production and use through to its reuse, recycling, and disposal.

In fact, the chemical interactions between the products and the environment are the principal reasons for improper shelf-life and spoilage phenomena.

[48] Under the assumption of steady state condition, the physical processes involved in the permeation can be modeled by simple equations.

[5] Furthermore, other assumptions are needed, such as the absence of chemical interaction between the penetrant and the packaging material and the fact that the diffusion flow must follow only one direction.

[50] The adsorption/desorption processes of a permeant's molecule normally exhibit a linear dependency with the partial pressure gradient across the barrier layer while keeping the assumption of steady-state transport condition and exhibiting a concentration lower than the penetrant's maximum solubility, thereby adhering to Henry's law of solubility.

[52] The gas exchange occurring between the packaging system and the external environment has a significant impact on the quality and safety of food products.

Uncontrolled physico-chemical and biological processes such as oxidation of vitamins, excessive microbial growth, and spoilage of the packed food may lead to improper conditions inside the packaging headspace, hence reducing their shelf-life.

[17] Therefore, the packaging system should be designed to create the ideal conditions for the selected product, avoiding excessive gas exchange.

These permeants affect several bio-chemical processes in food products, such as ripening, degradation, hydration/dehydration, microbial growth, vitamins oxidation; they also have an impact on the organoleptic properties, hence causing off-flavours, excessive weight loss, textural changing and generally shortening the shelf life.

Concurrently to the oxygen barrier property, the permeability of water vapor through a food packaging system should be minimized to effectively prevent physical and chemical changes connected to an excessive moisture content.

[52] The moisture barrier properties of a material can be assessed by measuring the water vapor transmission rate (WVTR), which can be defined as the amount of water vapor per unit of area and unit of time passing through the packaging film.

[54] It is critical to maintain food safety during processing,[55] packaging, storage, logistics (including cold chain), sale, and use.