Edible Food Packaging?

Food packaging could soon be made from edible substances like mesquite gum and milk serum.

The days of fresh food are long gone. There are few people in this day and age who can say that their food makes its way straight from the farm to their kitchen table. Most of us consume packaged food everyday and considering the journey our food makes before it reaches our dinner plates, we probably have packaging to thank for its safety and shelf-life.

Commonly-used methods of packaging include vacuum packing, aluminium foil, nitrogen sweeping and film wrap. Plastic wraps are made from a variety of plastics, including polyvinyl chloride (PVC), that provide a physical barrier between the food and the environment. This is a simple solution that has been shrouded with controversy for over a decade as concerns have been raised over whether plasticizers in the wrapping can seep into the food. Chemicals in some plastic films could be endocrine disrupters, mimicking or interfering with hormones in the human body, and some studies have suggested that they could cause breast cancer, birth defects, low sperm count or mental disorders.

But while some worry about unnatural substance entering their food, other more progressive types wish that packaging could do more to enhance what it is protecting.

In fact, active packaging is already being used for some food. Time Temperature Indicators (TTIs) are round labels embedded on wrappers that contain a chemical that polymerises - or reacts to produce a new compound - depending on the temperatures a product has been exposed to. The reaction happens faster if the product is exposed to more heat, and the label changes colour when it takes place to notify consumers.

An even smarter wrapper has been developed by American company Landec which can vary its permeability as the temperature changes, and keep food at its optimal oxygen/carbon dioxide concentration for maximum freshness. Fruits and vegetables, for example, use more oxygen and give off more carbon dioxide as they get warmer.