Food packaging is packaging for food. A package
provides protection, tampering resistance, and special physical, chemical, or
biological needs. It may bear a nutrition facts label and other information
about food being offered for sale.
FUNCION
Packaging has several objectives:
Physical protection: The food enclosed in the package
may require protection from, among other things, shock, vibration, compression,
temperature, bacteria, etc.
Containment or
agglomeration: Small items are typically grouped together in one package to allow efficient
handling. Liquids, powders, and granular materials need containment.
Information
transmission: Packages and labels communicate how to use, transport, recycle, or dispose of
the package or product. Some types of information are required by governments.
Marketing: The packaging and labels can be
used by marketers to encourage potential buyers to purchase the product.
Package design has been an important and constantly evolving phenomenon for
several decades. Marketing communications and graphic design are applied to the
surface of the package and (in many cases) the point of sale display.
Security: Packaging can play an important role in reducing the security risks of
shipment. Packages can be made with improved tamper resistance to deter
tampering and also can have tamper-evident features to help indicate tampering.
Packages can be engineered to help reduce the risks of package pilferage; some
package constructions are more resistant to pilferage and some have
pilfer-indicating seals. Packages may include authentication seals to help
indicate that
Food Packaging
Materials
Food packaging protects foodstuffs, but it can
also be a source of chemical food contamination. The layer that is in direct
contact with the foodstuff is called "food contact material". Various
different types of food contact materials are commonly used, each with different
properties.
Packaging for foodstuffs comes in many
different forms, based on technical requirements throughout the supply chain,
as well as marketing needs (like brand identity or consumer information) and
other criteria. The layer that is in direct contact with the food or beverage
is called “food contact material”.
For some types of food packaging the food
contact material determines the name: a plastic bottle is made of plastic and
has this material type in direct contact with the foodstuff. For glass jars the
materials in contact with the foodstuff are glass and coated metal from the
closure. In the case of beverage cartons the direct food contact layer is not
carton, but laminated plastic. For aluminium cans a coating is in direct
contact with the beverage. Some types of paper can also be coated (for example
with a grease-proof coating).
The term food contact material applies to food
(and beverage) packaging, but also to any other materials that come into
contact with food, either during storage, processing and filling, or consumption
(like cooking utensils).
In general, any food contact material should
not release chemicals into the food at quantities that can harm human health
(see EU 1935/2004, Article 3 and US 21CFR174). In order to assess the health
impacts related to food packaging it is therefore essential to understand the
chemical composition of the packaging material and the levels at which these
compounds can partition into foodstuffs, a process that is known as migration.
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Ceramics
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Glass
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Metal
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Paper
and Board
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Plastics
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Printing
Inks
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Wax
Wood