ERASMUS+

FOOD FOR THOUGHT5th General Lyceum of Veroia, Greece

Food packaging2nd Thematic section

What is packaging? “ the introduction of products into bags, tubes,

boxes, bottles, cans.” What for? To maintain the content and keep its

efficiency at high rate. To protect the content/products.

To protect products from

• Chemical deterioration (due to oxygen, light, humidity)

• Biological deterioration (micro-organisms)• Physical deterioration(mechanical damage)

What packaging materials are used to keep products-food safe?

Materials traditionally used for food packaging are• Glass• Metals (aluminium, foils and laminates, tinplate, and tin-free

steel)• Paper and paperboard• Plastics Today's food packages often combine several materials so as

to exploit the functional or aesthetic properties of each one.

Glass used is• Odorless• Chemically not active • Impenetrable to gazes and vapors• Transparent• Rigid/good insulator• Good for heat sterilization

BUT• It is fragile • its heavy weight adds transportation costs

Metals• High rate of protection• High fill and closure• Decorative potential• Recyclability BUT• It is heavy• Not all metals are recycled• Not all of them can be used again• The most commonly used are aluminium,

laminates and metallized films

alluminium• highly resistant to most

forms of corrosion• effective barrier to the

effects of air, temperature, moisture, chemical attack

• flexible, surface resilient, excellent shapeness

BUT • Due to its inability to be

welded, it is only used for seamless containers.

Laminates and metallized films• Laminates contain polyethelene,

aluminium and treated paper covering• Metallized films are plastics containing

a thin layer of aluminium metal• Laminated aluminium is expensive ,

metallized films are less expensive, more flexible

• Both of them are recyclable BUT • there is difficulty in sorting and

separating them so their recycling is feasible

Plastics

• Low cost compared to other materials• Fluid and moldable • chemically resistant (the latest made plastics)• inexpensive and lightweight• heat sealable, easy to print

BUT • Permeable to gases, vapors, light

2 major categories of plastics: “thermosets and thermoplastics”

• Thermosets are not for food packaging

• Thermoplastics are easily shaped and molded/ ideal for food packaging.

• virtually all thermoplastics are recyclable

BUT separation poses some practical

limitations for certain products.

Paper and paperboard(date back to the 17th century)

• Plain paper is not used to protect foods for long periods of time.

• To be used in food packaging , it is treated, coated, laminated, or made solid with materials such as waxes, lacquers to improve functional and protective properties.

• Paperboard is thicker than paper • It is commonly used to make boxes, cartons, and trays• seldom used for direct food contact• Paper laminates• Paper laminates are coated or uncoated papers. They can be

laminated with plastic or aluminum BUT • Lamination, substantially, increases the cost of paper.

Types of paper used in food packaging

Tetra pak- A packaging innovation

• The Product and the package are sterilized separately. Then combined and sealed in a sterile atmosphere in contrast to canning, where product and package are first combined and then sterilized .

• Tetra pak packages can be preserved up to one year. This has a result that distribution and storage costs of a product is reduced.

BUT

• Tetra Pak cartons are more difficult to be recycled than tin cans and glass bottles.

Packages not so good • The chip bag• The problem: The typical snack chip bag is made

from up to seven layers of foil and plastic. Companies like this because these bags are light, reduce shipping volume, don’t take up much space on a shelf, and are graphics friendly. The downside is that there’s currently no machinery to separate these layers, so they aren’t recyclable.

Packages not so good

• Single-serving foods• The problem: Size and material are two of the

biggest factors for recyclability: in general, the smaller a package and the greater its mix of materials, the less recyclable it is.

Packages not so good

• The toothpaste tube and the toothbrush • The problem: The small size, blended material and

leftover toothpaste inside toothpaste tubes – and other tube-based containers – make recycling almost impossible. As for toothbrushes, their slender shape and blend of plastic and nylon bristles make them tough to disassemble and recycle.

Packages not so good

• The online purchase• The problem: Companies and private sellers that

deliver products through the mail often over-package, putting a pre-boxed item in a second box, and sometimes even a third one. This practice, which Dancy calls the “Russian doll” approach, is exceedingly wasteful.

Packages not so good

• The dreaded pizza box• The problem: Pizza boxes – and many other takeout

containers – are made of recyclable materials, but when cheese or other food scraps stick to the cardboard, they are no longer recyclable.

The presentation of our visitsPANINI

• Panini, a Greek company, distributes its products all over Greece.

• It mainly manufactures fresh and tasty sandwiches with pure ingredients such as turkey, bacon, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce etc.

• They also sell packed crispy croissants, delicious burgers and hot dogs.

PANINI• Mrs Despoina Mavropoulou, a

food technician of the company said that

the packaging materials are from polyethylene and multilayer which are recyclable.

• The more the layers the higher the price.

• The criteria of choosing a packaging material are primarily the quality and secondly the price. They use the same packaging for the distribution all over Greece.

PANINI• These materials are suitable for

preventing the ‘’immigration’’ of substances onto the product.

• The ink they use for the decoration of the packaging is appropriate for the deterioration of the absorption from nasty substances.

• Mrs. Mavropoulou also talked about the rules they have to follow so that they succeed in good quality and fresh products.

• They have to abide by ISO 22000 which is an international standard

ΚΑΝDΥLΑΣ from 1927• “Kandylas Company“ produces

traditional sweets: halva and tahini Verias (from sesame seeds), glucose syrup, syrup pastries, traditional vanilla, sweets, marmalades, handmade loukoumi and sweet preserves.

• Kandylas Company exports its products all over the world.

• We interviewed, a food technologist of the company.

ΚΑΝΔΥΛΑΣ from 1927• The company uses a variety of

packaging materials.• The company uses dormant

materials in order to protect the consumers. So they avoid the immigration of substances into products.

• They follow international standards and the food technologist said that the European restrictions are stricter than the restrictions of the Greek legislation.

ΚΑΝΔΥΛΑΣ from 1927• We also had the

opportunity to watch how they produce and pack halva and other products and of course we tasted them!

• Τhe corporation was established in 1964. It began as a farmer producers cooperation distributing fruits and vegetables, especially peaches, in both inland and outland.

• In 1992, Venus moves towards fruit processed production by initializing its canning factory in the town of Veria.

VENUS GROWERS• From 1992 and until 2004

the corporation enters a new era by introducing automation in most parts of the production and shipping.

• The company builds new warehouses and upgrades its technologies according to European standards.

VENUS GROWERS• The containers that they

create are mostly metal and plastic ones, which have multilayer plastic films.

• In addition the packets are made out of propylene, which is airtight, blurred and the oxygen can pass through it.

• The company does not use glass, because this material can break and small pieces may be mixed with its food content, leading to the possibility of injuries.

• It is important to mention that the containers are getting pasteurized, so that to avoid the transport of bacteria and other substances in the food.

VENUS GROWERS• Greece produces a

percentage of 30% in peaches, around the world.

• The area of Imathia grows the most peach trees in Greece.

• Venus final products are sold to international corporations, and through them the exports abroad are accomplished.

• Furthermore, the company exports its products in many countries, including China.

Fish Farming in Lakonia

General Information

We were able to run a conversation

through Skype with the owner of the

company, and thus we collected the information we

needed.

General InformationΤhis company is one of the first fish farming units in

Greece. it was founded in 1969.For 45 years the firm has been dealing with the

production of trout and the last 10 years they started breeding a species of salmon and oxirynchos,

General InformationThis particular farm offers an execellent living environment for trouts and salmons, two species that have many similarities with each other.The

oxirynchos has some important differencies with the Coho salmon, which habitats the Pacific Ocean, so

the climate of the mountain is suitable for its survivor.

Τhe Fish Farming Facillities

Materials (1)The corporation breeds and wraps salmon in the

farm itself.Regarding the packaging methods, they use plastic

bags and the fish are being packed in air pocket.With the materials they use, the transport of

substances can be avoided.

Materials (2)To maintain the food they also use vases of glass filled with oil, salt and vinegar.Τhe best preservation can be achieved with the use of plastic bags, because

glass is not a practial material. Μοreover they use some concrete materials, with the condition of not

letting marks on the products or changing the product.

Materials (3)Moreover popular among them is the use of

paper and glass packaging, which are friendly to the environment and recyclable, while

plastic is not.

SterilizationThe air pocket bags are received sterilized, but the vases are sterilized in the company. If the package is swelled, then the product must

not be consumed, because it may haven’t been sterilised with carefullness, or have been

infected, thus leading to the creation of bacteria.

Cost- CaviarTheir very first priority is the quality of the food, then

come the cost.

Furthermore they produce caviar of salmon, the known black caviar, its production is a bit difficult

and it is packed in glass vases.

Exports

Their products are being sent in all Greece. In addition they have started making some

exports in the lands of Europe.

Exports

Their products are being sent in all Greece. In addition they have started making some

exports in the lands of Europe.

Suggestions …• Researches related to the food packaging

innovations topic which are carried out by universities and researching institutes should be exploited by european authorities and be given as instructions to the European countries so as the companies apply the packaging innovations to their policy.

• Consumers , through municipality campaigns, media, school programmes, such as our Erasmus project, should become aware of the food packaging innovations. So they would become more sensitive to the food packaging issue and would learn to choose food that is packaged according to the latest regulations.

Research websites

• http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1750-3841.2007.00301.x/pdf

• http://www.ift.org/food-packaging.aspx

Thank you for your attention!

ERASMUS+

FOOD FOR THOUGHT5th General Lyceum of Veroia, Greece