Packaging is the calling card of a product. It gives the first visual and tangible impression of the product to the prospective buyers.
In addition to the information describing the package contents, the packaging provides lots of other useful references and tips about the material inside. It tells the purchaser about the price, size, condition and texture of the product, where and when it was made and when it should be used by. Food packaging is an immensely important segment in the packaging sector because it addresses both people's basic needs and quality-of-life issues. It provides the consumer with a range of information that can be of crucial importance to their health: the degree of freshness, colour, shelf life, ingredients and nutritional values (such as the number of calories and fat content). But details such as the country of origin, the weight and production methods can also be important factors in consumers’ purchasing decisions. Depending on the design, the customer is given suggestions on how to prepare and serve the food, and in what quantities.
Packaging also takes on practical functions, such as protecting contents against damage and preventing them from going bad.
Many of the functions above can only be fulfilled by packaging if the packaging has printing ink applied to it. Ink is the often unnoticed information medium that both simplifies and makes our lives safer in many respects.
Many of the products packaged by the food industry are organoleptically-sensitive. Change in smell or taste spoils the people’s enjoyment of the products and must therefore be prevented at all cost. One of the main functions of packaging is to protect the food and prevent substances from transferring to the food or from the food. It is obvious that the packaging itself must under no circumstances have a negative influence on the quality of what goes inside it.
Principle of Food Packaging
No health risks to the consumers; No change in the taste, smell, colour or visual properties; No change to the composition of the contents; No contamination from the printed package; Maximum shelf-life; Zero risk to health.
Migration of Substances from Food Packaging Materials
First we need to clarify what kind of substances might be transferred into the food and how this transfer of unwanted substances works.
Any transfer of substances into food is important because it can have two negative impacts on food.
Food safety – Specific substances could be harmful to health if small amounts are ingested with the food on a regular basis.
Food quality – migrants might deteriorate the organoleptic properties or change the composition of the food.
Transfer of substances from the packaging to its contents can happen in three different ways: Through-migration; Invisible set-off; and Substance transfer via gas phase.
Substances of low molecular weight either from the ink and coating films or from the substrate can pass through the substrate to the packed food inside. This process is known as through-migration.
