Packaging Industry Trends – Part II

Product safety is a big concern to both the packaging industry and the consumers who buy their products. Problems such as food contamination, spoilage and product counterfeiting are growing world-wide issues. Packaging has been used as a barrier to keep consumable products safe since man first began trading goods. Plastics have taken over as the main material used to keep consumables safe from external influences such as heat, dust, air, water, sunlight, and contamination by touch. It has also been used to keep in flavor, color, vitamins and minerals.

Newly developed plastics are allowing packagers to keep their products safer than ever before. There are now plastic films that have anti-corrosion properties. These will keep the products from corroding in extreme conditions. There are other plastics that keep fruits and vegetables fresher longer by allowing the bad gases to release into the air outside the plastic barrier, while keeping out the air that will cause them to spoil faster.

Some packages (such as on frozen foods and fish) have temperature detection labels on them. If the label turns a certain color it warns the consumer that the product was exposed to a temperature that was too high and the product may not be ‘safe’. Known as ‘intelligent’ packaging, it informs the consumer whether the product was handled properly prior to purchase.

Follow my next blog (Part III) to continue learning more about the latest trends in packaging.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.