Pharmaceutical packaging

Abstract: During the last decade, joint efforts by the packaging and the food industries have reduced the amount of food packaging materials. Nonetheless, used packaging materials are still very visible to the consumer in the context of disposal. Environmental issues are becoming increasingly important to the European consumer. Consequently, consumer pressure may trigger the use of biobased packaging materials as an alternative to materials produced from non-renewable resources. Biologically based packaging is defined as packaging containing raw materials originating from agricultural sources, i. e. produced from renewable, biological raw materials such as starch and bioderived monomers. These materials are not necessarily biodegradable. Consequently, this review is not limited to biodegradable packaging. To date, biodegradable packaging has commanded great attention, and numerous projects are under way in this field. One important reason for this attention is the marketing of environmentally friendly packaging materials. Furthermore, use of biodegradable packaging materials has the greatest potential in countries where landfill is the main waste management tool. Biobased packaging materials include both edible films and edible coatings along with primary and secondary packaging materials. Excellent in-depth reviews on edible films and coatings are already available 1 , 2 , 3 . Therefore, this review focuses on biobased primary packaging materials for foods. Several concerns must be addressed prior to commercial use of biobased primary food packaging materials. These concerns include degradation rates under various conditions, changes in mechanical properties during storage, potential for microbial growth, and release of harmful compounds into the packaged food product. Furthermore, the biopackaging must function as food packaging and meet the requirements of the individual food product. This review evaluates the suitability of biobased packaging for foods. Additionally, it identifies the challenges involved when using biobased packaging for different foods.

Abstract: Background Microbial contamination and lipid and protein oxidation are major concerns for meat and meat products in terms of food safety and quality deterioration. The meat quality and safety properties are highly dependent on packaging materials and technologies. Scope and approach To achieve longer shelf life, active packaging and intelligent packaging have been developed to change the conditions of the package, impart information, monitor the product supply chain, and provide anti-counterfeit functionality. This will effectively enhance food safety and quality and consequently increase the product value, convenience, and consumer satisfactions. This review analyzes the recent developments in active and intelligent packaging in the meat industry, in both research and commercial domains. The global patents and future research trends are also discussed. Key findings and conclusions Active and intelligent packaging offer great opportunities for enhancing meat safety, quality, and convenience, and consequently decrease the number of retailer and consumer complaints. Some important factors such as legislation concerns (e.g. migration of active substances from packaging materials, labelling), economics and consumers' preferences should be considered to successfully implement antimicrobial and intelligent packaging solutions in the meat industry.

Abstract: Nowadays food preservation, quality maintenance, and safety are major growing concerns of the food industry. It is evident that over time consumers’ demand for natural and safe food products with stringent regulations to prevent food-borne infectious diseases. Antimicrobial packaging which is thought to be a subset of active packaging and controlled release packaging is one such promising technology which effectively impregnates the antimicrobial into the food packaging film material and subsequently delivers it over the stipulated period of time to kill the pathogenic microorganisms affecting food products thereby increasing the shelf life to severe folds. This paper presents a picture of the recent research on antimicrobial agents that are aimed at enhancing and improving food quality and safety by reduction of pathogen growth and extension of shelf life, in a form of a comprehensive review. Examination of the available antimicrobial packaging technologies is also presented along with their significant impact on food safety. This article entails various antimicrobial agents for commercial applications, as well as the difference between the use of antimicrobials under laboratory scale and real time applications. Development of resistance amongst microorganisms is considered as a future implication of antimicrobials with an aim to come up with actual efficacies in extension of shelf life as well as reduction in bacterial growth through the upcoming and promising use of antimicrobials in food packaging for the forthcoming research down the line.

Abstract: In the recent past, food packaging was used to enable marketing of products and to provide passive protection against environmental contaminations or influences that affect the shelf life of the products. However, unlike traditional packaging, which must be totally inert, active packaging is designed to interact with the contents and/or the surrounding environment. Active packaging systems are successfully used to increase the shelf life of processed foods and can be categorized into adsorbing and releasing systems (for example, oxygen scavengers, ethylene scavengers, liquid and moisture absorbers, flavor and odor absorbers or releasers, antimicrobials, etc.). Intelligent packaging is characterized by its ability to monitor the condition of packaged food or the environment by providing information about different factors during transportation and storage. Intelligent packaging includes time-temperature indicators, gas detectors, and freshness and/or ripening indicators. At the same time, advances in nanot...