Smart and Sustainable Food Packaging «Susfoflex»

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1 Smart and Sustainable Food Packaging «Susfoflex» Di.Samim Saner Kalite Sistem Laboratories Group, Turkey

2 Need Analysis & Consumer Trends

3 Food Waste: Global Reality According to the European Commission s official web site; About 90 million tonnes of food is wasted annually in Europe 12% of fruits and vegetables, 9.5% of seafood, and 4% of meat are lost in distribution and retail About a third of the food for human consumption is wasted globally - around 1.3 billion tons per year Food waste in industrialized countries is as high as in developing countries: (FAO) In developing countries, over 40% of food losses happen after harvest and during processing; In industrialised countries, over 40% occurs at retail and consumer level.

4 Towards SUSFOFLEX Fresh fruit and vegetables have the highest share of food losses Fresh-cut products are one of the fastest growing segments of food retailing Call - FP7 Work Programme - KBBE : Advanced and flexible technologies for active, intelligent and sustainable food packaging The European food packaging industry needs active, intelligent and sustainable food packaging materials in combination with flexible packaging technologies to stay competitive on the global market. The new active, intelligent and sustainable solutions have to be consumer-oriented, ensure the safety and quality of food, reduce food losses, and reduce the environmental impact of food packaging.

5 Consumer Trends and Demands Protection / Safety / Health Improved functionality More innovation / Greater modernity Visual Appeal / Textual Appeal Convenience Quality / Appearance Legible Information Environmentally friendly

6 Points to be considered The principal targets of food packaging are to reduce food loss and increase shelf-life of food products. It is important for food packaging is to contain food in a cost-effective way that satisfies industry requirements and consumer desires, maintains food safety, and minimizes environmental impact. Products are becoming alike so packaging is the most important differentiating factor Product innovation is mostly based on progress in packaging technology

7 SUSFOFLEX Project

8 What is SUSFOFLEX? Proposal acronym: SusFoFlex Type of funding scheme: Collaborative project, Small or medium scale focused research project targeted to SMEs Call Title: KBBE 2011 Call identifier: FP7-KBBE CP-CSA Work programme topics addressed: Advanced and flexible technologies for active, intelligent and sustainable food packaging [KBBE ]

9 It is a teamwork 7 (including 6 SMEs) industrial companies from Spain, Ireland, Norway, Finland and Turkey and 8 European RTD units (5 research centre and 3 universities)

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11 What will be achieved? The main objectives of SUSFOFLEX are; Development of novel packaging solution that will have the following characteristics: To be able to increase/improve the shelf-life of the packaged food: packaging materials with improved barrier and antioxidant properties. To be able to reduce food losses: thanks to the ability to extend the shelf-life, and/or incorporation of nanomaterials based sensor array. To be sustainable: innovative packaging materials and additives developed from ecofriendly, bio degradable materials obtained from organic agro-food by-products. Development of a methodology that could be flexibly applied to different food categories: Identification of food storage requirements Identification of properties of traditional packaging solutions used at present for that food Development of sustainable materials with competitive performance Development of innovative solutions with improved performances Industrial small-scale demonstration of the results

12 Active and Intelligent Packaging Active Packaging: designed to deliberately incorporate components that would release or absorb substances into or from the packaged food or the environment surrounding the food. Increase food safety, decrease food loss! Intelligent Packaging:...monitor the condition of packaged food or the environment surrounding the food Real shelf life! Instead of FIFO, FEFO!

13 Active and Intelligent Packaging Intelligent packaging is an emerging technology that uses the communication function of the package, whereas active packaging focuses on protection and aims to extend the shelf life to maintain and improve the quality and acceptability of packaged food.

14 Active Packaging 14

15 Antimicrobial Packaging 15

16 Closer Look on SUSFOFLEX

17 TECHNOLOGY The consortium is investigating different traditional packaging materials and identifying the key areas where improvement in terms of barriers and smart functions can be made by using natural additives, fillers and nanomaterials (natural antioxidant extracts, cellulose-based bionanocomposite, nanosilicates, edible nanolaminate coatings). A nanomaterials based sensor array that can gain information on the condition of the product (e.g. freshness) will be developed. The sensor array will be tailored for certain type of applications, e.g. sensing microorganisms (biological sensor) or gases present (chemical sensor) in the package. The sensor is an integrated part of a smart label/sticker,. The sensor materials will be inkjet/screen printed, while the label will utilize the roll-to-roll printing for higher volume.

18 TECHNOLOGY The sensor will monitor the packaged food, and communicate the information to the user. In addition, the sensor will display on the package if there is possible dangerous consequences in the consumption of the product. (expired food, proliferation of harmful bacteria, etc) Hybrid (combination of conventional and fully printed components), RFID based near field communication will be used for communication. RFID will be integrated in the smart label by using a state-of-the-art hybrid roll-to-roll facility available in the consortium. This approach will ensure that the technology can utilize the most cost effective solution..

19 HERE, SUSFOFLEX Project is represented by: Kalite Sistem Laboratories Group, Turkey (KSL) taking role in benchmarking of consumer expectations and trends, food packaging interactions (migration tests, shelf life tests etc), antimicrobial packaging analysis, environmental issues, and dissemination activities. Georgia Tech Research Institute, Ireland (GTI) applying their expertise in the area of RFID and wireless sensors, specifically to facilitate the transfer of the relevant packaging information wirelessly. They take role in development of novel software for RFID readers, user interfaces and RFID/NFC-enabled handhelds.

20 Wrap Up Looking Toward Future Health and Environmental awareness will raise in the public globally Importance of Smart & Intelligent Packaging will increase as it supports both food safety and security Packaging needs to become more functional and intelligent Bio packaging materials will be needed Packaging materials with antimicrobial and antioxidant properties Use of Nanotechnology Sensors for real time shelf life (more sensitive, more specific) Sensors for pathogens Communication of traceability Need for Research for the toxicological evaluation of nanomaterials Solutions must be cost-effective

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22 sensor materials responding to increase in temperature with visual colour change relies on an array of chemoselective molecules dyes immobilized on a solid support. Upon exposure to the analyte, the dye array changes colour. 22