2008 round up: This year’s most read articles about packaging

Packaging that releases aromas could alter taste​

A process that integrates aroma into plastic packaging enhances taste perception and reduces the need for unhealthy ingredients in food products, claims its US developer.

Pennsylvania-based ScentSational Technologies said its CompelAroma technology encapsulates Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved food grade flavour molecules in the polymeric structure at the time it is been produced.

The company argues that locking such flavours into the polymer matrix helps them stay stable significantly longer than when added directly to the contents.

Steven Landau, chief technical officer with ScentSational, told FoodProductionDaily.com that enhancing food and beverage packaging with odours could compensate for the taste impact of reducing their salt content, thereby giving manufacturers another tool towards healthier formulation.

To read the article about the technique, click here​.

New BOPP film will biodegrade after disposal, says Super Film​

David Haskins, marketing manager at Super Film Europe, talks to FoodProductionDaily.com about the company's latest packaging developments, which, he claims, are aimed at helping food processors enhance their green profile.

To view the video from Emballage 2008, click here​.

Hopes for waste reduction as oxi-biodegradation technology applied to PET ​

A company specialising in oxi-biodegradable products is hoping to reduce waste in countries with traditionally low levels of recycling.

UK-based Wells Plastics has adapted its Reverte technology for use in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles.

According to the company, Reverte-treated PET products which are not sent for recycling will oxi-biodegrade in a fraction of time it takes standard PET products, which can be several hundred years.

“This is a very positive step, especially in those places where recycling has not reached high levels,”​ the firm’s John James told BeverageDaily.com.

To read the article about this application for PET bottles, click here​.

Huhtamaki may offload its rigid plastics division​

Huhtamaki has announced that it may sell its hard plastics operations and focus instead on its paper-based packaging segment, which it claims offers more robust volumes.

“Rigid plastic consumer goods operations, for the most part, do not meet our criteria for financial performance and its profitability has been below Huhtamaki average,”​ said the company.

Hard plastic food packaging includes bottles, dairy, meat and deli containers, prepared food trays and a large group of containers mostly made for liquid foods.

A spokesperson for the packaging manufacturer told FoodProductionDaily.com that factors such as overcapacity in the sector as well as rising input costs were making its position in the rigid plastics segment almost untenable.

To read more analysis of the rigid plastics sector, click here​.

Active packaging under the spotlight ​

A project aimed at designing antimicrobial packing material that is risk free and improves the shelf life of fresh fish, chicken and minimally processed vegetables will begin work on November 1.

Participants at the Interpira Extending Shelf Life​ conference in Hamburg heard that the Natural Antimicrobials for Innovative Safe and Safe Packaging (NAFISPACK) project will be lead by a Spanish research centre.

The Spanish Instituto Tecnolgico del Embalaje, Transporte y Logstica (ITENE) is organising the project with the support of the 7th Framework Research Programme of the European Union.

Dr Consuelo Fernandez Rivas from the packaging division of ITENE said one of the scheme's main objectives is to develop a safety assessment methodology for antimicrobial active and intelligent packaging using chemical, toxicological, microbiological and sensory analyses methods.

To read the article about the project, click here​.