Bacteria-Killing Packaging May Reduce Food Waste

February 23, 2022, Daily News | Advanced

Exercise 1

Vocabulary

packaging / ˈpækɪdʒɪŋ / Noun

materials used to cover or protect goods

Example:
I think this type of packaging can be recycled.

biodegradable / ˌbaɪəʊdɪˈɡreɪdəbl / Adjective

able to be broken down in the environment by bacteria and other living
things

Example:
These biodegradable bags are made from banana leaves.

process / ˈprɑːses / Verb

(of food) to change it in order to make it taste better, last longer, etc.

Example:
The tomatoes are processed in this room before being crushed and put
into cans.

built-in / ˌbɪlt ˈɪn / Adjective

being part of a structure

Example:
The bedroom has a small built-in closet.

wrap / ræp / Verb

to put cloth, paper, etc. around something

Example:
The store did a beautiful job of wrapping the gift.
Exercise 2

Article

Bacteria-Killing Packaging May Reduce Food Waste

A new type of packaging that kills bacteria and keeps food fresh has
been invented by a team of scientists in the US and Singapore.

Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and

Harvard University created the packaging in an effort to help with global
issues such as food safety, food waste and plastic pollution.
The packaging is mainly made from a biodegradable waste product
that is created when corn is processed to produce ethanol, and it looks
similar to the packaging already found on most fresh produce. However,
this new material has built-in natural compounds — such as thyme oil
and citric acid — that kill bacteria as it begins to grow on the food a nd
on the surface of the packaging.
Lab tests found that strawberries wrapped in the new material lasted
three days longer than strawberries kept in regular packaging. In
addition to fruit, the material could also be used for vegetables, raw
meat or ready-to-eat foods.
Professor Philip Demokritou of Harvard University, who co -led the study,
said that developing efficient, environmentally friendly food packaging
materials is one of the most efficient ways to increase food safety and
reduce waste.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has
estimated that the world wastes one-third of all the food it
produces. And a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report
from 2021 estimated that 931 million metric tons of food is wasted
globally every year — more than 60% of it from households. Data from
the report showed that China was the biggest producer of household
food waste, followed by India, the US and Japan.
Rotting food in our garbage releases gases that contribute to global
warming, while the UNEP says food packaging is the second largest
contributor to global plastic pollution after cigarettes.
Since it is biodegradable, the scientists hope that the newly developed
packaging may help to reduce both food waste and plastic waste in the
future.
Exercise 3

Discussion
1. What are your thoughts on the new bacteria -killing packaging?

2. Do you find it surprising that food packagin g is the second largest

contributor to global plastic pollution?

3. Do you make an effort to buy biodegradable products?

4. What do you make of the fact that the world wastes one-third of all of
its food?

5. Do you take any steps to reduce food waste in your household?

Exercise 4
Further Discussion
1. How often do you go grocery shopping?

2. Do you have any tips for keeping food fresh longer?

3. Who's the least wasteful person you know?

4. Do you think it'd be difficult to go zero-waste? Why? Why not?

5. We don't need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We

need millions of people doing it imperfectly. — Anne Marie Bonneau.
What are your thoughts on this statement?

Source
This lesson is based on an article by Kezia Smith.