PACKAGING OF FOODS

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PACKAGING OF FOODS
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The Role Of Packaging In Food Preservation

• Packaging is a means of providing the correct
  environmental conditions for food and, as such,
  needs far greater thought and care than is
  customarily realized.
• The methods of food preservation are more
  dependent upon the packing and distribution
  system being correct than more traditional
  canning of foods and a considerable amount of
  scientific calculation is necessary in the
  formulation of the package.

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• All foods are perishable and this means that,
  after a certain period of storage, it is possible
  to distinguish between fresh food and the food
  which has been kept for the period.
• Some foods, however, may ripen or mature after
  being packed and do improve for a short period,
  but this is then followed by a more rapid
  deterioration.

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• The deterioration which occurs may be spontaneous
  but it is often a response to the external
  circumstances and much of the packaging which is
  used intervenes between a food and its normal
  surroundings to delay the process of
  deterioration for the required time.

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Factors causing food deterioration

• Factors causing deterioration of food may be
  divided into two classes
• - first class includes physical changes due to
  temperature, biochemical and chemical changes due
  to microorganisms or to interactions between
  various component in the product.

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• Second class of factors which lead to the
  spoilage of food may be considered under four
  headings
• mechanical damage
• changes in the moisture content of the food
• absorption of food and interaction with oxygen
• loss and gain of flavor

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Functions of a package

• It must keep the product clean and provide a
  barrier against dirt and other contamination
• It must provide protection to the food against
  physical damage, moisture, oxygen, and light.
• It must function smoothly, efficiently and
  economically on the packaging line during the
  actual operation of putting the food in the
  package.

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• It should have a degree of convenience built into
  its design which will not only supply the
  ultimate consumer with, say, and easy-opening or
  reclosure, but also must provide convenience at
  the intermediate stage in handling through
  warehouse and transport during distribution.
• It must provide identification, information and
  sales appeal.

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The risks of packaging

• There are certain risks associated with
  packaging, with the packaging operations and with
  the distribution system.
• Before packaging techniques and materials can be
  efficiently utilized it is necessary to set
  quality standards both of material and of
  operation.
• There are obvious microbiological hazards
  associated with any material used in packing
  because some of these materials could become
  contaminated with the microorganisms.

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• In some instances it is necessary to ensure that
  containers are either sterilized before use or
  that sterilization is carried out after the
  container has been filled.
• Other hazards include the possible leaching out
  soluble components in the packaging material or
  the transfer of odors from the packaging to the
  food product.

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Packaging Materials

• Metal such as tinplate, tin-free steel, aluminium
• Glass
• Plastics, including a variety of homogeneous
  films, coated films, laminated with other
  plastics, papers or metals (e.g.Aluminium)
• Papers, paperboards, fiberboards
• Laminates of one or more of the above materials