SUBMITTED TO: Maam Pakeeza

SUBMITTED BY: Maryam Shahzadi

SAP ID: 70076221
COURSE: Food and Drug Laws
DEPARTMENT: BDNS 4th Semester
ASSIGNMENT NO. 01

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Assignment Topic
Toxicity from packaging materials
INTRODUCTION
What is meant by food packaging?
Food packaging is defined as enclosing food to protect it from tampering or
contamination from physical, chemical, and biological sources, with
active packaging being the most common packaging system used for
preserving food products.
Food packaging is the enclosing of food for the purpose of protection from:
 Environmental factors that may cause contamination, damage, or
decay in the process of transport, storage or selling;
 Intentional modification of the product, or what is known as
tampering.
Food packaging is not a new concept
 For 1000’s of years, foods have been stored in containers.
 1700s: Food stored in bottles.
 1800s: Food sold in cans.
 1890s: Use of sealed wax paper bags and paperboard boxes (modern age of Food
Packaging).
 1920s & 1930s: Plastics and Synthetics for food packaging.
Today: Up to 6000 different chemicals are used as FCM*, some linked to chronic diseases
(COCs) while some lacking sufficient toxicological information.
What is food packaging material?
Materials that have traditionally been used in food packaging include glass, metals
(aluminum, foils and laminates, tinplate, and tin‐free steel), paper and paper boards, and
plastics. Moreover, a wider variety of plastics have been introduced in both rigid and flexible
forms.
Types of Packaging Material:
Packaging materials come in different shapes with various functions
relative to their properties. It is essential for the packaging material to
have a balance between its shape and its function. Given the packaging’s
main purpose of preservation, containment, and protection of food, the
packaging material can be rigid, flexible, or semi-flexible.
Rigid packages include bottles, trays, cans, jars, and caps.
Flexible packages include bags, cling wraps, bubble wraps, shrink wraps, squeezable tubes,
foam trays, stand-up packets, and vacuum bags.
Semi-flexible packages include caps and closures, boxes, and tetra packs.
Food packaging types differ in various ways, such as weight, size, durability, and barrier
properties.
What is Primary and Secondary Packaging?
Primary food packaging is the most essential form of packaging. Primary food packaging is in
direct contact with the food product – it preserves the products and ensures protection from
external bacteria or particles. Secondary packaging is used for branding and as an extra
measure of protection for the food product.
In many cases, food suppliers use primary packaging to package small amounts of food.
Secondary packaging is then used to contain the smaller packages together. It’s a great way
to bulk-sell smaller portions of food products.

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 Packaging
Types
Aseptic
Primary Liquid whole eggs or dairy products
processing
Trays Primary Portion of fish or meat
Bags Primary Potato chips, apples, rice
Corrugated box of primary packages: box of cereal cartons,
Boxes Secondary
frozen pizzas
Cans Primary Can of tomato soup
Cartons, coated
Primary Carton of eggs, milk or juice cartons
paper
Flexible
Primary Bagged salad
packaging
A series of boxes on a single pallet used to transport from the
Pallets Tertiary
manufacturing plant to a distribution center
Wrappers Tertiary Used to wrap the boxes on the pallet for transport
Primary packaging is the main package that holds the food that is being processed.
Secondary packaging combines the primary packages into one box being made. Tertiary
packaging combines all of the secondary packages into one pallet.
Food Packaging Materials:
Conventional food packaging materials currently used vary between metals, paper, glass,
and plastics.
Metals
There are various forms of metal food packaging, such as cans, tubes, containers, films, caps
and closures. Cans are generally made of aluminium or steel, and they are the most
commonly used metal packages of food and beverages. They are highly recyclable and are
usually coated with a layer of organic material to prevent any interaction between the food
and the metal.
Aluminium
Aluminium is generally used for beverage cans, foils, tubes, trays,
pouches, and coffee capsules. It has good resistance to temperature
fluctuations and acts as an excellent gas barrier, which extends the
food’s shelf-life.
Aluminium can be used in rigid, flexible, and semi-flexible packaging. It
helps maintain the freshness and aroma of the foods, and is good for
protection from radiation, oxygen, moisture, oils, and microorganisms.
Soft-drinks, seafood, and pet-food are commonly enclosed by aluminium packages.
Steel
Steel is used for cans, containers, caps, and closures. Organic coatings are
also required to resist corrosion. 
Common applications of tinplate include drink cans, processed foods, and
powdered foods. 
Tin-free steel also has good strength and form-ability and is slightly
cheaper than tinplate. Applications of tin-free steel include food cans, trays, bottle caps, can
ends, and closures.
Paper

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Paper is one of the oldest packaging materials, dating back to the 17th century. Paper and
paperboard are mostly used for packaging dry foods. Upon coating or waxing, their
applications extend to packaging and serving of wet and fatty foods. They are commonly
used in corrugated boxes, milk cartons, folding cartons, paper plates and cups, bags and
sacks, and wrapping paper.
Paperboard is a relatively thicker and heavier material than paper. It is widely used as
secondary packaging that is not in direct contact with the food. Boxes, trays, and cartons
used for shipping are the common usages of paperboard. Types of paperboard vary between
white board, solid board, chipboard, and fibreboard. 
Glass
Glass is another permanent packaging material that has been used for millennia.
The earliest evidence of glass making was around 7000 B.C . Yet, glassblowing of
bottles was discovered by the Romans in 50 B.C. in the area of modern day
Lebanon. Glass is well-known for being amid the most reliable and least toxic
materials for packaging foods and drinks. Its advantages include imperviousness,
inertness, strength, hygiene, resistance to tampering, quality colour, design,
decoration potential, transparency, chemical propriety, microwaveability, and heat
treatability.
There are two types of glass packaging most widely used for foods and drinks: narrow-neck
bottles and wide-opening jars and pots. 
Plastics
Plastics are the most common and most wide-ranging materials used for
food packaging. Some of their widespread uses are bottles, trays, bags, foils,
cups, pots, pouches, and bowls. The volume of plastic allocated to food
packaging amounts for around 40% of plastics. The convenience and
widespread use of plastic in food packaging is owed to its low cost, ease of
processability, formability, chemical resistance, lightweight, and a variety of
physical properties. However, plastic suffers from permeability to gas, vapour, and light.
Plastics can be classified into two main categories: thermosets and thermoplastics.
Toxicity Produces From Pacakging Materials:
The use of packaged foods due to the presence of various chemicals in packaging materials
that can contaminate foods and lead to serious health consequences. Here are common
packaging materials that have been associated with health hazards.
1. Glass: 
Glass is recognized as a safe packaging material by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
but a few types of glass bottles used for storing liquids may contain lead. Lead is a potent
known neurotoxin and is known to interfere with several functions of the body. Prolonged
exposure to high concentrations of lead can cause vomiting, poisoning, and liver and kidney
damage.
The metal caps used on the top of glass bottles and jars are also known to release a chemical
contaminant called phthalate which is linked to several disturbances in the hormonal
(endocrine) system.
2. Energy drinks and beer cans:
Those thin aluminum and tin cans used to store refreshing beverages contain ortho-
phenylphenol, a pesticide that is used kill bacteria and fungus; it is known to be
carcinogenic.
3. Plastic packaging: 
Plastic usage for packaging foods was the greatest controversy that food industry had to
face. A petition was filed requesting the FDA to ban the use of plastic in packaging foods
because of the presence of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA). BPA is linked to several adverse

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effects on the brain and reproductive health in children. Currently, the FDA is awaiting
results from pending research on effects of BPA.
4. Plastics for juice and milk cartons:
These packaging materials are called polyolefins .They contain benzophenone, a compound
that mimics a female reproductive hormone estrogen and interferes with reproductive
health of women.
5. Paper:
Use of paper and cardboard boxes for packaging foods is also debatable. Studies have shown
that printing ink from newspapers get leached into foods and may cause hormonal
disturbances. Recycled paper boxes may be contaminated with diisobutyl phthalate and di-
n-butyl phthalate which can cause digestion problems and severe toxicity.

Advantages & Disadvantages of Food Packaging:

Food and drink products are packaged and sold in glass, plastic, aluminum and paper. Each
of these materials has advantages and disadvantages for the consumer and the
manufacturer.

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Safety
Packaging food makes it safer and less vulnerable to contamination. Though the Food and
Drug Administration has expressed concern about the safe use of recycled packaging, it is
generally considered to be safe.
Shelf Life
Food lasts longer and stays fresh longer when it's packaged successfully. Unpackaged food
can quickly become dry, moldy or spoiled.
Waste
Food packaging accounts for a large amount of all waste in the United States. Though some
packaging is recyclable, it's difficult to improve the efficiency of most packaging.
Cost
Packaging accounts for a percentage of all food manufacturers' costs, and that is factored
into the final price of each food product for the consumer.
Convenience
Single-serving packages and packaged perishable items are convenient because consumers
don't have to wrap them up or put them in containers before storing them.
SOLUTION:
4 Ways to Avoid Toxic Chemicals in Food Packaging.
1. Buying food stored in glass jars is a good way to avoid BPA. Many products like soup
broth now also come in BPA-free boxes.
2. Instead of plastic reusable water bottles, use unlined stainless steel or glass.
3. Say no thanks to paper receipts—a lot of stores will e-mail your receipt now.
4. Wash your hands frequently and always before you eat. Chemicals in dust or on
thermal paper receipts can get on your hands, and you don’t want that stuff in your
mouth. It’s the same with your kids—try to wash their hands often throughout the
day and always before they eat.
References: 
Packaging Foods in Glass, Practical Action Technical Brief 
 Jane Muncke, Health Issues of 21st Century Food Packaging
 Luz Claudio Our Food: Packaging & Public Health
 Phthalates and food-contact materials: enforcing the 2008 European Union plastics
legislation.

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