INNOVATIVE FOOD PACKAGING

Development of eco-friendly paper-based packaging solutions

Cobb Testing
Picture: Robert Josipovic (Delsci GmbH)

MVTR Testing
Picture: Robert Josipovic (Delsci GmbH)

Shelf-life Testing
Picture: Robert Josipovic (Delsci GmbH)

Paper and cardboard have been in use for packing of foods and perishable goods since hundreds of years. However, there is an immense need for technological improvements, as food packaging materials need to meet a plethora of, sometimes contradictory, demands placed on modern packaging materials. Packaging serves as physical barrier to shield the packed goods from external influences, it shall prevent contamination and the loss of nutrients and at the same time meet consumer demands and legal regulations regarding food safety . The respective packaging material should guarantee the quality of the food until it reaches the customer (taste, feel, smell, etc.) and often also extend the shelf life of a product in terms of sustainability (waste avoidance through less food that has to be thrown away). Furthermore, environmentally compatible production conditions and product life cycles should be possible without endangering economic profitability.  

Paper-based packaging performs well in the latter disciplines, but often has disadvantages compared to plastic materials in terms of gas- and water vapour permeability and grease-resistance. The development of paper-based packaging for food with high water or fat content is a highly active area of research. There has already been a great deal of research success in this area by increasing the resistance of papers with coatings, lamination and impregnation with waxes or resins to improve the barrier functions. At the same time, however, the avoidance of environmental pollution during production and the recyclability, as well as ultimately the rapid biodegradability of barrier paper products at the end of their life cycle remain important development goals.

Currently, high-barrier paper packaging solutions available on the market provide water vapor transmission rates (WVTR) of < 10 g m­-2 d-1 and oxygen transmission rates (OTR) < 100 cc m-2 d-1. However, these packaging papers still face problems in their flex-crack resistance after folding and forming the package and barrier properties decrease as well as the uniformity of such coating films often show imperfections which could cause problems regarding storage stability of foodstuffs. Therefore, it is very likely that the barrier properties of the paper will decrease due to folding and the uniformity of such coating films will eventually show imperfections, which can cause problems regarding the storage stability of food. In addition, food producers sometimes use over-functionalised packaging with perfect barrier properties, which may not even be necessary and could be replaced by current paper packaging with the already mentioned barrier properties.

In this project, we will develop tailor-made packaging materials that are precisely adapted to their field of application, leaving as small an ecological footprint as possible.

By conducting storage tests, we will investigate their suitability for preserving labile food ingredients by monitoring relevant parameters such as antioxidant capacity and water activity during storage. At the same time, we will use infrared spectroscopy to study the resistance of the packaging materials to the packed goods and associated chemical changes and aging during storage. We expect to identify packaging formulations with similar favourable characteristics as comparable conventional products. In a final step, we will subject these formulations to decomposition trials in order to prove their biodegradability.

Lead Researcher:

DI Dr. Markus Brandstetter
Head of Infrared & Raman Spectroscopy,
RECENDT GmbH (Research Center for
Non Destructive Testing GmbH)

markus.brandstetter@recendt.at
+43 (732) 2468 - 4620
www.recendt.at