Food Packaging Material Classification

 Food Packaging Material Classification

Packaging is a medium that functions as a container or place to store a food ingredient with the aim of maintaining the quality and shelf life of the product. Packaging is made in such a way as to overcome problems encountered in food production and distribution and can extend shelf life or improve food safety or organoleptic properties.

The production process starts from the selection of raw materials, storage, distribution until the product is accepted by consumers. In an effort to manage the quality of food products, it is necessary to properly identify, so that efforts to guarantee product quality until the product is accepted by consumers. Therefore, the selection of the right packaging materials and a good packaging process is very important to determine the expiration date of packaged food products.

There are various types of packaging commonly used in the food industry, including paper, metal, glass, and plastic. The use of this type of packaging is adjusted to the nature and characteristics of the food to be packaged. Currently, the most widely used packaging is plastic packaging, which is synthetic plastic because it is easy to use and cheap to manufacture, relatively resistant to packaging and widely available. But in the disposal of this synthetic plastic can not be broken down by the soil or by organisms.

Before being made by humans, nature has also provided packaging for foodstuffs, such as corn with husks, fruits with skins, coconuts with husks and shells, beans with skins and others. The scope in the packaging field is now getting wider, in the modern industry various packaging and packaging processes have varied. Atmospheric variety packaging, aseptic packaging, low temperature transport packaging. Currently the development of packaging is moving very fast along with the development of industries that utilize and use it.

Packaging must also pay attention to two aspects, namely aesthetic aspects and economic aspects, packaging that meets aesthetic aspects can influence consumers to buy food products. Meanwhile, in the economic aspect, if the packaging used is really effective in terms of maintaining food safety so that prices in the sale of food ingredients remain under control.

Use of Cans, Plastic and Paper Packaging in Food Packaging.

1. Cans Packaging

The manufacture of cans generally uses 3 types of materials, namely: electrolite tin plate (ETP) which is a steel sheet whose surface is electrically coated with white tin. Tin Free Steel chrome type, on the entire surface coated with chromium oxide. Tin free steel is cheap and practical but not rust-resistant, so that in its use it must be coated on the sides. The can packaging used in canned fish packaging whose structure is made of copper coated with enamel which protects food from damage caused by microbes, canned chemicals so that it does not occur Bloating (Hydrogenswell) occurs due to the pressure of hydrogen gas resulting from the reaction between the acid in the food and the metal in the packaging can. Hydrogenswell is caused by:

•  Increased acidity of foodstuffs
• Increased storage temperature
• Imperfection of the inner lining of the can
• Incomplete exhausting process
• The presence of dissolved components of sulfur and phosphate

2. Plastic Packaging

Several types of plastic packaging are known are polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, nylon and vinyl film. Types of plastic that are widely used for various purposes (60% of plastic sales in the world) packaging are polystyrene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride and acrylic.

From the results of the practicum carried out, plastic packaging is used to package foodstuffs such as dried fish, rice, liquid tea (our tea), and sugar. The use of Oriented Film type plastic packaging is a type of oriented film that is flexible (soft) and not easily wrinkled. The general properties of oriented packaging are:

• Translucent, some are cloudy - permeability to water vapor and gases low
• Resistant to oil, alcohol and petroleum solvents, so it can be used for
• packaging, butter, margarine and cooking oil - high tensile strength and not easy to tear
• Influenced by aromatic hydrocarbons, ketones, aldehydes, esters, aromatic ethers.

3. Paper Packaging

Paper packaging used for butter packaging is used for packaging type of parchment paper used for foodstuffs such as butter, margarine, biscuits with high fat content. The properties of parchment paper are as follows:

• Has high fat resistance
• Has good wet strength even in boiling water
• Lint-free surface
• Odorless and tasteless
• Transparency and translucid, so it is often called glasin paper

4. Glass Packaging

Glass packaging properties:

• See through
• Strong
• Easy to shape
• Inert
• Heat-resistant
• Best protection against contamination and flavor
• Impermeable to gases, liquids, and solids
• Can be colored
• Reusable
• Relatively cheap

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