NZ Baking Industry

Intelligent Packaging Arrives

Packaging that prolongs shelf-life, or monitors and changes colour to indicate the freshness of a product, or packaging that contains oxygen ?scavengers? that absorb gas as food releases it. Sound too good to be true? Well ?intelligent? or ?active? packaging may not be a thing of the future for much longer. Food regulations in Europe may be changing soon to allow packaging to interact with food items in ways not previously allowed. Any packaging of this sort will have to comply with established food safety principles, which require materials coming into contact with food to be traceable and identifiable. (Biscuit World Feb 2004)