Do you remember your last trip to the grocery or big box store? Rows of shelves stacked high with cans, cartons, bags, trays, and containers, but not just the shelves. So many items filled every space – endcaps, center aisles, drop down displays, and check-out stations. It all amounted to a lot of stuff.

What’s with All the Food Packages?

Food packaging has a purpose – to protect products, keep them fresh, and make them easy to transport. Consumers have become accustomed to a wide range of options and choices in the foods they purchase, the brands they select, and they depend on packaged foods for the following reasons:

• Packaging helps to maintain the quality, freshness, and flavor of food, such as fruits, vegetables, and prepared meals.
• Packaging protects food from environmental hazards and contamination.
• Packaging helps prevent food from spoiling, which reduces waste and greenhouse gas emissions (Figure 1).
• Packaging includes important information for the consumer including, list of ingredients, nutritional value, and shelf-life.
• Packaging ensures accessibility to food – easily transported and stored.

Figure 1. Environmental impacts of food waste (USEPA, 2023).

Materials for Food Packaging

While plastics are commonly utilized in packaging today, this was not always true in the past. Prior to plastics; paper, glass, metal, cloth, and wood met packaging needs. Ohio State University offers a history of packaging.

• Paper – The earliest reports of paper used as a packaging material center around the use bark from mulberry trees. In North America, native Americans used the bark from birch trees for food storage and packaging.
• Glass – The practice of preserving food in glass jars or “Canning” dates back to 1810. It was a way to keep food safe, maintain nutrition and ensure availability in year round. In 1909, the first 4-H canning clubs got their start.
• Metal – Early metal cans were tin. Here’s an intriguing fact: tin cans made their debut in 1813, but it wasn’t until 1858 that the can opener was invented. Aluminum, being lighter and more affordable than tin, led to the production of the first aluminum cans in 1959.
• Cloth – Fabric has a long history as a packaging material for human foods, animal grains, and agricultural products. Recycled materials served various purposes, ranging from clothing to household items.
• Plastics – There are a variety of plastic monomers that contribute to the lightweight, durability, and versatile properties of plastics. First created around the year 1900, modern plastics are available in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Science continues to explore the use and applications for plastics, including the creation of bioplastics.

Future Resources and Food Packaging

Trends predict the value of food packaging to increase from a market share of $111 billion to $148 billion by 2030. A significant portion of this growth can be linked to consumer demand and interest in food delivery services as well as single-serve and portable food packs.. Addressing the needs of consumers, while conserving natural resources and protecting natural ecosystems is the next challenge.

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