Life-Saving Packaging

Food CPCs are taking a serious look at smart packaging, exploring inventive ways to protect their products and consumers.

FOOD-BORNE ILLNESSES cause more than upset stomachs. According to the Center for Disease Control, food poisoning results in more than 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,200 deaths in the United States each year. Worldwide, the World Health Organization reports that 3.2 million children under the age of five die of food-poisoning-related illnesses annually.

The statistics are grim, but there's hope. Beyond better food-handling methods, packaging is becoming another avenue for food companies to better protect their consumers from the hidden dangers of organisms such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Campylobacter.

Smart packaging can do many things that most food packaging can't. It can inhibit the growth of bacteria and even fight pathogens in food packages, and indicate to consumers when a food is unsafe to eat. And that's just the beginning of many benefits that have attracted significant interest from food companies.

Different advantages exist for converters. Not only does smart packaging provide a significant opportunity for converters to offer higher-value products to their customers, most smart packaging is also designed to be run on standard equipment through standard processes—no need for special coating machines or presses.

A smart packaging boom

Smart packaging is poised for eye-opening growth, according to a study called Biomonitoring Systems for Packaging, conducted by Packaging Strategies and BRG Townsend Inc. The study predicts U.S. production of biomonitoring systems—mechanisms at the heart of smart packaging—to increase to 555 million units valued at $76 million by 2007. According to the study, this rise will be driven by five systems: temperature abuse indicators, gas-scavenging/ absorbing labels, breathable film, food quality indicators, and antimicrobial systems.

Everyone from private companies to government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration are at work inventing and refining these smart packaging technologies, looking to make the U.S. food supply safer. packagePRINTING caught up with three innovators to get more information on their smart packaging additions.

Keeping it fresh

Fresh-cut produce is a booming market segment. What started as bagged pre-cut lettuce for McDonald's in the mid-'80s has turned into a $12 billion market, representing about 14 percent of the total fresh produce market, according to Mike Bosky, market manager at AET Films.

While it seems easy enough to throw pre-cut fruits and vegetables in a bag or plastic carton for the market, there's a whole science behind maximizing the freshness and safety of fresh-cut produce. Depending on several variables—the type of produce, how the produce has been cut, and the storage temperature—produce packages need to be capable of controlling the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide that enters and exits. That's exactly what AET Films' HOTR®-2 film was designed to do.

HOTR-2 is an extension of the company's HOTR family of OPP films, which is designed for fresh-cut produce packaging applications. Available in 55 and 70 gauge, the film offers oxygen transmission rates (OTR) of 175-325 cc/100 square inches/24 hours in laminations with polyethylene. HOTR-2's OTR is about 60 percent higher than other film OTRs, meaning HOTR-2 is able to provide a sufficient environment for food with high respiration rates, which includes many fresh-cut produce items.

The film's enhanced breathability performance is based on proprietary polymer chemistry to achieve permeability, as opposed to other processes that mechanically alter films for permeability. "This provides product protection from outside contaminants, the maintenance of flavor compounds, and improves moisture control within the produce," Bosky said.

In addition, HOTR-2 exhibits a Beta Value—the ratio of carbon dioxide to oxygen that accumulates in the headspace of the package—that ranges between 3.5-4.0 vs. a Beta Value of 1.0 for mechanically altered structures. "This provides a more suitable packaging atmosphere for extending the shelf life of many produce items," he said.

The "silver" touch

No matter what best-management practices food handling and packing companies implement, there always remains the risk of microbial growth inside a food package. To help increase the odds for bacteria-free packaging, Colorcon, a division of Berwind Pharmaceutical Services, offers inks and coatings called No-Tox® AM that contain an anti-microbial agent.

No-Tox AM uses AgION™ anti-microbial technology. The anti-microbial compound is suitable for food, medical, and pharmaceutical packaging. When applied as a coating, No-Tox AM addresses the growing concern over microbial growth on the inside surface of packaging films and other commonly-used substrates.

"No-Tox® AM is applied to packaging film or paper, and the intent is to provide a clean packaging surface—one that actually inhibits bacterial growth," said Michael Gettis, general manager of the No-Tox Products Division of Colorcon.

The AgION anti-microbial delivery system provides for a continual slow release of silver, a natural anti-microbial compound. In the presence of surface moisture, silver ions are released to curb the production of microbes, ensuring the packaging's longevity and integrity.

Less than 0.001 percent of silver is incorporated into the coating, which can be applied with standard coating equipment. The silver compound is FDA listed for use in all food contact polymers.

Smart packaging:

Safeguarding consumers

Some of today's most inventive smart packaging actually indicates to consumers when food in the package has spoiled. One such technology is Toxin Alert Inc.'s Toxin Guard™, expected to be commercialized in the next year to 18 months.

Toxin Guard is a U.S.-patented food freshness and safety test incorporated into conventional plastic food wrap and other kinds of packaging. When food packaging materials prepared with Toxin Guard tests come into the presence of targeted spoilage bacteria, or pathogens such as E. coli, chemicals such as pesticides, or genetic modification markers, an unmistakable visual sign alerts the consumer, retailer, or inspector.

"Toxin Guard is a biochemical sensor that can be printed on packaging as easy as ink, through the standard printing process," said William Bodenhamer, president of Toxin Alert. "There are 144 sensors in one sq. ft. of packaging material for 1-2 cents per square foot.

"We knew it had to work in the real world and be affordable," Bodenhamer said. "We worked with a commercial printer in Toronto and printed the Toxin Guard on a 60-year-old Mark Andy 2100 flexographic printer. That's the design of this system—it had to be able to be run in the real printing world."

The test is made of monoclonal antibodies (one kind of antibody) that can be printed on packaging. When the test is in the vicinity of pathogens or proteins of interest, the test displacement reacts.

"For example, we're working with a food company that wants to do some packaging for hot dogs," Bodenhamer said. "Because hot dogs are eaten a lot by kids, they wanted a display that a child could understand. We made a test in the shape of a balloon on a string (which is printed on the packaging). The balloon bursts when it comes in contact with pathogens, telling consumers that the food is not safe to eat."

Toxin Guard has been nominated for an award at the prestigious 2004 World Technology Summit.

By Kate Sharon

Associate Editor