Addressing safety and environmental concerns while creating sustainable food packaging was the theme of the recent IUFoST Scientific Roundtable Discussion (SRD). The SRD, Sustainable Food Packaging: environmental and food safety issues focused on new innovations, regulations, and labelling and food safety issues. Key experts from India (Dr. Vismal Katiyar), USA (Dr. Young T. Kim), France (Dr. Nathalie Gontard) and Australia (Dr. Deirdre Mikklesen) provided perspective and leadership for the Question Period in which all are encouraged to participate. Co-chaired by Dr. Charles Aworh (Nigeria) and Dr. Carol Wallace (UK).
Packaging plays a crucial role in ensuring a safe, wholesome and nutritious food supply. However, poor package design and integrity, poor choice and improper use of packaging materials, package composition and migration of potentially toxic package constituents into foods, and other factors may lead to food safety concerns. Sustainable food packaging is an increasingly vital aspect of the food industry as it embraces the principles of circular economy. One of the environmental concerns that sustainable packaging or green packaging addresses has to do with the life cycle of packaging materials. Billions of tonnes of plastics have been produced since the 1950s and the upsurge in the use of fossil-based plastics for food packaging in the 1970s, due to their many desirable properties including versatility and low cost, occurred without due concern for the environmental consequences such as the huge quantities of plastic wastes on land and in the oceans and the adverse ecological consequences of plastics pollution. The Scientific Roundtable Discussion (SRD) on sustainable food packaging: environmental and food safety concerns focuses on new innovations, regulations and safety in food packaging. Discussion covers potential food safety implications associated with food packaging choices, to ensure the protection of public health and the integrity of packaged food products; circularity of packaging systems including recyclable fossil-based plastics and biodegradable bioplastics and biopolymers derived from renewable resources; the use of available bio-resources for value added sustainable polymeric products for food packaging applications; recent developments on the use of bio-based plastics with improved properties to replace some of the conventional fossil-based plastics for food packaging; biopolymer based edible coatings for extending the shelf life of fresh produce; societal demand to innovate the traditional packaging technology; and how societal issues such as post-pandemic, sustainability and environmental pollution concerns are impacting the demands for sustainable packaging systems. Striking a balance between sustainable food packaging and food safety will promote a healthier and more environmentally friendly food packaging landscape.
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