Materials Used In Food Packaging
In the modern-day business in the food industry, food packaging is key for presenting products in attractive ways. There are many materials that are currently used for food packaging, but four significant materials are in practice. Materials like paper, cardboard, glass, Aluminum, and Plastic are considered consumable and cost-effective in the food packaging industry.
Paper and Cardboard Packaging:
Paper and cardboard are multipurpose materials that are used to wrap food items. In the food packaging industry, the use of paper and board is increasing over time as a lot of food items or products are packaged in paper and cardboard boxes. Items like liquids, frozen foods, and fast foods are usually packed in carton board boxes to maintain their freshness and taste. Paper and board are prepared for regular strings of faded or unbleached fiber or are, otherwise, recovered from recycled resources. Botanical extracts are required in the production of paper and boards to accomplish diverse mechanical functionalities. They are either supplementary to the fleshy tissue for the duration of manufacturing or covered onto the surface subsequently.
Pros and Cons:
The paper and cardboard packaging products are reusable and recyclable. These packaging solutions consume less energy in the production process. Paper and board made packaging products can be used for many times. These are easily disposable because they are nature-friendly products. These products are light in weight and easy to carry packaged products.
Along with the benefits of paper and cardboard made packaging products, there are some drawbacks or disadvantages as well. These are not for hefty products and easily distortable under extreme pressures. These packaging products are not weather resistant to save packaged food items from unfavorable weather conditions.
Glass Packaging:
Glass packaging is an amalgamation of diverse resources like glass containers, silica glass, metal, and plastic closure. The closure ingredient depends on the packaged foodstuff. Glass is the most plentiful raw material on the earth, silica is not renewable, but it is a decomposable artifact; meanwhile it can be used as a container repetitively. The Glass packaging products can be containers, vessels, spectacles, bottles, jars, etc. Glass encasement is frequently used for liquid refreshment or food yields that might be stockpiled for an extended period of time.
Pros and Cons:
The glass packaging products are durable and recyclable. The glass packaging is usually transparent, which means you can see what is actually packed in them. The primary benefit of glass packaging for food items is that it does not affect the taste of the packaged item and keeps it fresh.
, On the other hand, some disadvantages of glass packaging like difficulty in carrying due to its weight. Higher weight adds more shipping costs and causes an increase in the prices of packaged products. Breakable exposure of light due to its transparency might affect food items packaged. The glass packaging material is comparatively expensive than other packaging materials.
Plastic Packaging:
The use of plastic packaging products for food packaging is now standard practice in the packaging industry. The plastic material which is used in packaging describes an extensive range of synthetic packaging materials. The plastic materials are based on different types of polymers like PVC, Polyethylene, Polyethylene Terephthalate, high-density Polyethylene, PolyCarbonate, and Polystyrene. It depends on the end-use or application that which type of material is used in packaging. These packaging containers might be bottles, films, coatings, and boxes. Plastic packaging materials are considered as organic and moldable into the anticipated shapes. These are used for packaging food products over the decades due to their durability, lightness, and flexibility. Due to these characteristics of plastic packaging materials, they are used in the packaging of a wide range of food products for a long period of time.
Pros and Cons:
Advantages and disadvantages of plastic packaging depend on the tasks. These are durable and recyclable due to the potent combination of chemical elements. These are cost-efficient as these are cheaper than many other packaging materials.
The drawbacks of plastic packaging materials are that they vitiate over time due to climatic changes. They might be damaged by extreme light, scrabbling, cracking, or bumping. These can also absorb the tastes and smells of the packaged food items. These are recyclable, but the earth cannot absorb it as these are not decomposable.
Metal Packaging:
Metals are used in food packaging from the 1900s with four primary metallic materials like aluminum, tin, steel, and chromium. Tin and chrome are used as composite materials for food packaging, while aluminum is used as an unadulterated alloy. Therefore, the manufacturing of food wrapping merchandise starts from metals that are excavated, then sophisticated to excerpt the metal; its preliminary meditation in the mineral, as well as its form of manifestation, will in a straight line affect expenses linked with the end material. These materials are durable and recyclable without harming their originality. These materials are basically used for packaging food and drinks due to their high mechanical strength to resist against gases, moisture, light, and high temperatures. These can be recycled multiple times. These are unbreakable and best solution for product safety.
Pros and Cons:
There are multiple advantages and disadvantages of metal packaging materials in the food packaging industry. It is an undeniable fact that they are durable as they are resistant to every weather circumstances. They are unbreakable and recyclable as many times as required, which gives the liberty to save the excessive cost of new materials.
While on the other hand, some metallic packaging materials are vulnerable to corrosion effects, which might cause mental deterioration. The invisibility of products is also a significant concern about metallic food packaging. As these are not flexible or stretchable, it might cause storage issues. The aluminum packaging of acidic items might also be affected by aluminum characteristics.
Conclusion:
The principal purpose of food packaging is to maintain the safety, quality, and freshness of the packaged food items. All these materials provide practical and environmentally friendly food packaging solutions. Some of these like metal and glass packaging materials are relatively expensive, but durability and recyclability are significant features that provide safety to food products. In the current scenario, paper packaging is considered more cost-effective and environment-friendly in the food packaging industry.
