28

Intelligent packaging extends the

life of food products and helps
guarantee quality. Rodney Abbott
examines the latest technologies

Intelligent paper
packaging unwrapped

A ctive paper packaging is used in
modified atmosphere packaging
(MAP), whereas intelligent paper
packaging has found applications in the
logistics and security sectors.
Modified atmosphere packaging is big
business. This virile sector is expected to grow
by 10–15% over the next five years. In
addition, the pundits are convinced that over
50% of all European fresh red meat will be
centrally packaged. One has only to look at
estimates for the market size of case-ready
beef, pork and lamb over the past five years to
see that these figures may even lean towards
modesty. The forecast for next year is 1.2
million tonnes.
MAP is growing in popularity throughout
Europe because more and more retailers
recognise the financial benefits of marketing
fresh foods which have been prepared and
packed in central preparation units, rather
than prepared back store.
If you are packaging in a central unit, the
shelf life of the product must be sufficient to
survive both the distribution time to the store,
as well as the display time in store. It is
absolutely clear that the industry is moving
more and more to central packaging, if only
for greater cost effectiveness. Without a
barrier pack, products like fresh red meat
would only have a shelf life of just three to
four days. With a modified atmosphere pack,
fresh red meat lasts for seven days or more.
While multiple plastics structures have
undoubtedly taken the market by storm,
‘
Modified
atmoshere
packaging is big
business. This
virile sector is
expected to grow
by 10–15% over
’
the next five years.
29
paper-based products also have a leading role
to play, particularly for paper-like barrier
materials. The consumer undoubtedly prefers
the look and feel of paper to film, and much
work has been done on developing paper-
laminated structures by firms such as Danisco.
Active paper packaging disciplines are used to
change the condition of packaged food to
extend shelf life or to enhance safety or
sensory properties while maintaining food
quality. These include systems that will absorb
oxygen, ethylene and moisture or remove
compounds that may cause tainting. Other
active packaging systems release antimicrobial
agents, antioxidants, flavours and/or colours.
In-pack oxygen scavenging involves the use of
a variety of forms of scavenger. Sachets merely
inserted into the food package constitute most
of the present systems in commerce.
Alternatively, the scavenger can be hot-melt
bonded to the inner wall of the package.
So materials are being developed continuously
to run at higher speeds, give better pack
security and better hermetic sealability.
About 20–30% of sachets and labels are
paper based. As a material, paper is much
more cost-effective, but is not suited for use
in applications where the product comes into
direct contact with food. EMCO Packaging
Systems supply one such product, the ATCO
02 scavenger. This combined oxygen emitter
and carbon dioxide absorber has been
developed to support elevated O2 controlled-
atmosphere packaging of fresh produce. It has
been designed to compensate for the effects of
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30
product respiratory activity on the gas
composition of the pack atmosphere,
maintaining it at the optimum by gradually
releasing O2 and absorbing CO2.
Unlike sachets, however, which are loose in
the pack and can be mistaken for salt sachets
or other edible extras, the label format can be
applied in-line to the top web, making it
virtually invisible to the consumer. In
addition, the labels are said to be smaller
than similar competitors’ products, and offer
a faster reaction time. An EMCO spokesman
says an O2-emitting product is also being
developed, which would help to prolong the
shelf life of fresh food such as salads.
Table 1 lists examples of active packaging
systems, some of which may offer extended
shelf-life opportunities for new categories of
food products.
The main advantage of using oxygen
scavengers is that they are capable of reducing
oxygen levels to less than 0.01%, which is
much lower that the typical 0.3–3.0% residual
oxygen levels achievable by modified
atmosphere packaging. Oxygen scavengers can

Table 1 Selected examples of active packaging systems

Active packaging system Mechanisms Food applications

Oxygen scavengers
Carbon dioxide
scavengers/emitters
Ethylene scavengers
Preservative releasers
Ethanol emitters
Moisture absorbers
Flavour/odour adsorbers
Lactose and cholesterol removers
Temperature control packaging
1 iron-based
2 metal/acid
3 metal (e.g. platinum) catalyst
4 ascorbate/metallic salts
5 enzyme-based
1 iron oxide/calcium hydroxide
2 ferrous carbonate/metal halide
3 calcium oxide/activated charcoal
4 ascorbate/sodium bicarbonate
1 potassium permanganate
2 activated carbon
3 activated clays/zeolites
1 organic acids
2 silver zeolite
3 spice and herb extracts
4 BHA/BHT antioxidants
5 vitamin E antioxidant
1 alcohol spray
2 encapsulated ethanol
1 PVA blanket
2 activated clays and minerals
3 silica gel
1 cellulose triacetate
2 acetylated paper
3 citric acid
4 ferrous salt/ascorbate
5 activated carbon/clays/zeolites
1 lactase
2 cholesterol reductase
1 non-woven plastics
2 double walled containers
3 hydrofluorocarbon gas
4 lime/water
5 ammonium nitrate/water
bread, cakes, cooked rice, biscuits, pizza,
pasta, cheese, cured meats and fish,
coffee, snack foods, dried foods and
beverages
coffee, fresh meats and fish, nuts
and other snack food products and
sponge cakes
fruit, vegetables and other
horticultural products
cereals, meats, fish, bread, cheese,
snack foods, fruit and vegetables
pizza crusts, cakes, bread, biscuits, fish
and bakery products
fish, meats, poultry, snack foods,
cereals, dried foods, sandwiches, fruit
and vegetables
fruit juices, fried snack foods, fish,
cereals, poultry, dairy products and fruit
milk and other dairy products
ready meals, meats, fish, poultry and
beverages

Source: courtesy, CCFRA New Technologies Bulletin No. 17

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be used alone or in combination with MAP.
Their use alone eliminates the need for MAP
machinery and can increase packaging speeds.
However, it is usually more common
commercially to remove most of the
atmospheric oxygen by MAP and then use a
relatively small and inexpensive scavenger to
mop up the residual oxygen remaining within
the food package.
Non-metallic oxygen scavengers have also
been developed to alleviate the potential for
metallic taints being imparted to food
products. The problem of inadvertently setting
off in-line metal detectors is also alleviated,
although some modern detectors can now be
tuned to phase out the scavenger signal whilst
retaining high sensitivity for ferrous and non-
ferrous metallic contaminants. Non-metallic
scavengers include those that use organic
reducing agents such as ascorbic acid,
ascorbate salts or catechol. They also include
enzymic oxygen scavenger systems using
either glucose oxidase or ethanol oxidase
which could be incorporated into sachets,
adhesive labels or immobilised onto packaging
film surfaces.
Carbon dioxide-emitting sachet and label
devices can either be used alone or combined
with an oxygen scavenger. An example of the
former is the VerifraisTM package,
manufactured by Codimer sarl (Paris, France),
which has been used for extending the shelf-
life of fresh meats and fish. This innovative
package consists of a standard MAP tray but
has a perforated false bottom under which a
porous sachet containing sodium
bicarbonate/ascorbate is positioned. When
juice exudate from modified atmosphere
packed meat or fish drips onto the sachet,
carbon dioxide is emitted and this
‘
antimicrobial gas can replace the carbon
The use of active dioxide already absorbed by the fresh food,
packaging is thus avoiding pack collapse.
becoming
increasingly Pack collapse or the development of a partial
vacuum can also be a problem for foods
popular, and many
packed with an oxygen scavenger. To
new opportunities
overcome this problem, dual-action oxygen
will open up for scavenger/carbon dioxide emitter sachets and
using this labels have been developed which absorb
technology in the oxygen and generate an equal volume of
’
future. carbon dioxide. These sachets and labels
31
Active and intelligent packaging
Active packaging
Concepts that actively influence the condition
of the food in order to extend shelf life and to
improve quality of the packed food.
Intelligent packaging
Concepts that monitor and/or give
information about the history and/or quality
of the packed food, for example through time-
temperature indicators.
usually contain ferrous carbonate and a metal
halide catalyst, although non-ferrous variants
are available.
Taint represents another problem faced by
packaging technologists. Swedish company
EKA Noble in cooperation with Dutch
company Akzo, have developed a range of
synthetic aluminosilicate zeolites, which they
claim adsorb odorous gases within their highly
porous structure. Their BMHTM powder can be
incorporated into packaging materials,
especially those that are paper-based, and
apparently odorous aldehydes are adsorbed in
the pore interstices of the powder.
The use of active packaging is becoming
increasingly popular, and many new
opportunities will open up for using this
technology in the future. The problem with
developing active and intelligent
technologies is that – when a fresh
component is added to food and beverage
packs – the integrity of the pack is
jeopardised, if only because there is no
watchdog in place to maintain a level
playing field. However, programmes such
as Actipak, supported by the EC as part of
its fair research and development programme,
have been established to pave the way for
legislation that would allow European
companies to compete with their more
active US counterparts.
Actipak now consists of 12 international
research bodies coordinated by the TNO
Nutrition and Food Research Institute of the
Netherlands. Other partners include Finland’s
VTT Biotechnology, the University of
Compostela in Spain, ADRIAC of France,
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Table 2 Selected commercial oxygen scavenger systems

Manufacturer Country Trade name Scavenger mechanism Packaging form

Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co. Ltd. Japan Ageless iron-based sachets and labels
Toppan Printing Co. Ltd Japan Freshilizer iron-based sachets
Toagosei Chem. Industry Co. Ltd Japan Vitalon iron-based sachets
Nippon Soda Co. Ltd Japan Seagul iron-based sachets
Finetec Co. Ltd Japan Sanso-Cut iron-based sachets
Toyo Seikan Kaisha Ltd. Japan Oxyguard iron-based plastic trays
Multisorb Technologies Inc. USA FreshMax iron-based labels
FreshPax iron-based labels
Fresh Pack iron-based labels
BP Amoco Chemicals USA Amosorb PET copolyester plastic film
Chevron Chemicals USA N/A benzyl acrylate plastic film
W.R. Grace Co. Ltd USA PureSeal ascorbate/ metallic salts bottle crowns
CSIRO/Southcorp Packaging Australia Zero2 photo-sensitive dye/ plastic film
organic compound
CMB Technologies France Oxbar* cobalt catalyst plastic bottles
Standa Industrie France Atco iron-based sachets
Oxycap iron-based bottle crowns
Amberley Adhesive Labels Ltd. UK Atco iron-based labels
Johnson Matthey Plc UK N/A platinum group metal catalyst labels
Bioka Ltd Finland Bioka enzyme-based sachets

*development suspended since 1990

Source: courtesy, CCFRA New Technologies Bulletin No. 17

Ghent University in Belgium, Pira, TM Europe
of France, and Danone Biscuit Branch, France.
The development and testing of smart
packaging concepts (package indicators)
which give information on the microbial
quality and safety of packaged food products
is one of the focuses of the packaging research
currently being undertaken at VTT
Biotechnology, based at Espoo in Finland.
Other main packaging research topics at VTT
are modified atmosphere packaging, active
packaging and precision packaging, as well as
non-destructive checking of package integrity.
For many perishable products, exclusion of
oxygen and high concentration of CO2
improve the stability of the product as the
growth of aerobic micro-organisms is
prevented. As a result of potential package
leak, the protecting atmosphere is lost.
Package leak can also increase the microbial
spoilage by enabling the product
contamination with harmful micro-organisms.
It is possible to check the package integrity
immediately after packaging procedure, but
a leak indicator attached into the package
gives information on the package integrity
throughout the whole distribution chain.
Some intelligent packaging concepts are
already commercially available and their use
increases constantly. New concepts of leak
indicators and freshness indicators are
patented and it can be expected that more
new products will become available
commercially in the near future. VTT
Biotechnology’s senior research scientist,
Maria Smolander, believes that the use of
quality and safety indicating tags in certain
easily perishable packaged products will
become statutory within the coming years.
In addition to the development of new
intelligent packaging concepts, VTT is working
on other aspects of this field. In a national
project funded by Finnish Ministry of
Agriculture and Forestry, and coordinated by
the Association of Finnish Fish Retailers and
Wholesalers, the suitability of the commercial
time–temperature indicators for the quality
evaluation of packaged fish products is
currently being studied.
The sensory and microbiological quality of the
fish products is evaluated as a function of
time in different constant and variable
temperature conditions. Simultaneously,
different time–temperature indicators chosen

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The Actipak project
Evaluating safety, effectiveness, economic
and environmental impact and consumer
acceptance of active and intelligent
packaging
Background
Begun January 1999, this is a three-year,
EC-funded project involving organisations
from 12 countries.
In Europe, the development and
application of active and intelligent
packaging systems has been limited. The main
reasons are legislative restrictions, a lack of
knowledge about their acceptability to
consumers, and the efficacy and economic and
environmental impact of such concepts.
Project tasks
The key tasks are:
■ an in-depth review of technologies,
legislation, markets and consumer needs and
trends in active and intelligent packaging
■ studying the analytical composition and
migration behaviour of selected concepts
and testing of combinations of food and
packaging
■ investigating:
– the safety of concepts through microbial
safety analysis and assessment of the risks
from false indications
– the effectiveness of the concept’s sensory,
microbial and chemical shelf life capacity
– the efficiency of the concepts as scavengers
of, for example, oxygen, ethylene, etc.
■ examination of toxicological properties,
economic and environmental effects and the
attitude of European consumers to these
innovative concepts
■ discussion with EU and national authorities
about legislative aspects and drafting of
specific amendments. Modification of
migration testing methods and development
of procedures for systematic evaluation of the
fitness for food contact of active and
intelligent concepts.
Project sponsorship
Pira receives only 50% funding from the EC
andcompanies can be involved in the project
through sponsorships. For further details
contact Peter Page on T +44 (0)1372 802123
or E peterp@pira.co.uk.
33
according to the existing shelf-life data of the
products and attached to the surface of the
retail packages are monitored visually and
instrumentally. The rate of the indicator
colour change at particular temperature
conditions is compared with the changes in
the quality of the fish product.
In the project, the manufacturers, wholesalers
and retailers are working in close
collaboration and an open discussion of the
possibilities and challenges of smart packaging
is taking place. This project will provide the
industry with a valuable knowledge required
in the decision making in the potential
implementation of smart packaging concepts.
Today, the commercially available smart
packaging concepts are labels reacting with a
visible change in response to time and
temperature indicators or, in the case of leak
and freshness indicators, the presence of
certain chemical compounds. In the future it
can be expected that a smart package will
contain more complex invisible messages that
can be read at a distance. A label could be
introduced as a chip, but advances in ink
technology might enable the use of clever
printed circuits as well.
The security tags and radio frequency identity
tags are the first examples of electronic
labelling. In addition to informing on product
identification, date of manufacture and price,
electronic tags could also function as a time-
temperature, leak and/or freshness indicator.
It is also thought possible that the advances in
electronics and biotechnology would be
followed by the emergence of totally new
concepts of smart packaging.
Currently under development and trial is a
new technology – radio frequency
identification devices (RFID) are the ultimate
goal. Label manufacturer Norprint has been
developing this technology – intelligent
tagging – with Sensormatic for four years.
RFID is going to affect the future of everybody
in the packaging chain. And the board swing
ticket offers the perfect carrier. RFID is like a
floppy disk on a computer. It will receive a
stream of information for others to read. RFID
hardware represents a reusable and intelligent
tag that provides the retailer with the key
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service of tracking goods all the way through
the supply chain from the supplier to its final
resting place on the supermarket shelf.
A shop assistant would be able to determine:
■ at which branch, for example, a returned
item of clothing was bought
■ when it was bought
■ how much it cost the purchaser.
A large retailer recently trialled an RFID tag
for its food chain in parallel with the existing
barcode information. The store wants the
safety net of being able to scan the barcode.
They are not using it for a security purpose. A
French manufacturer called Gen-Plus supplies
the chip they will use. Another supplier of
RFID tags is Intermec, who also work closely
with Sensormatic.
This cutting-edge technology will certainly be
in common use within the next five years. The
cost of one tag is too high at the moment to
make it cost-effective where security is
concerned but, when its value is measured in
terms of tracking goods through the supply
chain, especially in tandem with the internet,
its cost becomes far more justifiable. And,
within the next five years, its cost is bound to
become far more viable. Cost comparisons
between old and new technology are not easy,
if only for the simple reason that traditional
RF tags had just one life. RFID tags can be
used two or three times.
Another security discipline is offered by
holographics, a big user of paper substrates.
In the drinks sector the demand for
holographic labels is high. Holography is a
discipline that first came to light in the early
1940s. Wallpaper holograms were first used in
packaging in the ‘70s to give products shelf
appeal and to act as an initial step towards
brand protection, the full potential of which
was not realised until much later.
Since the 1970s, greater levels of technology
and complexity have been built in to two-
dimensional products such as imaging
techniques or fine text that can only be
detected under a microscope. A kinegramatic
effect provides a three-dimensional effect and
even greater security which is used for neck
ppa Issue 2
Figure 1
Factors promoting the
development of freshness
indicating intelligent
packaging
labels that not only protect the brand, but
provide customer assurance as well.
When using wallpaper designs, there is no
need to register either print or the image on
the hologram. Holograms with registered
images have to be placed in a precise spot on
the base pattern, giving even higher levels of
brand protection. The use of the correct foils
and papers, furnished on PP or PE liners in
varying weights, is key for a quality end
product, so converters are reliant on hologram
and substrate suppliers to maintain the supply
chain. A few companies, such as Applied
Holographics, provide a one-stop shop.
Suppliers need to assure customers that their
products are genuine, particularly in markets
where parallel trading prevails. This is
happening increasingly in overseas markets.
The situation is made more difficult in
‘
developing markets where the hologram
Suppliers need
provides unprecedented shelf appeal. This
to assure their
applies to the drinks industry, particularly to
sales of vodka in Eastern European markets customers that
such as Poland and Russia. Three months after their products
the launch of Absolwent vodka by its Polish are geniune,
producers, who had the foresight to put a particularly in
hologram on its label, sales rocketed from 0 markets where
to four million bottles a month. It became a parallel trading
market leader over night.
’
prevails.
Counterfeiting has reached an all time high –
£100 billion worldwide every year – and is
particularly evident in developing markets
where the supply chain is less sophisticated.
The problem is compounded by the Chinese
and others who are able to copy holograms
with relative ease and confound even the
experts. The big question is how do you police
the measures that are put in place, particularly
when the consumer is not aware enough to
know the difference between the genuine
hologram and the product and their mimics?
Most would argue that it wasn’t the
consumer's job to be that aware. Perhaps, it's

the brand owner's job to make them aware.
This probably means that, with certain
products, the brand owner is going to have
to spend a lot more money on his labelling.
While counterfeiting exists on the scale that it
does the brand owner can't ever be sure that
customer has bought the genuine product!
One of the big issues of brand protection is
diversion of product – the product is sent to
a certain market only to reappear in another
– in some cases before the authentic product
has been launched in that market. Brand
protection through holography doesn't come
cheap. The cost of preparing the artwork for
the hologram is high. There are other security
disciplines available, including threads or
infrared and ultraviolet inks which are
cheaper and which will give the customer
an element of brand protection. It's all
related to cost and how much the brand
owner fears the threat of parallel trading.
To determine the level of brand protection
required by any hologram, it is essential to
determine the prime issue of concern. It
could be any one of a number of issues –
customer assurance, covert authentication,
anti-replication, overt authentication, track
and trace, or even anti-refill which is
particularly applicable to the drinks sector.
Marketing would have an issue about
communication.
Whatever the issue, the brand owner must
question whether he or she would be able
to police any steps put in place or measure
what's happening. For example, a forensic
marker could be placed in the packaging to
authenticate it but, before a brand owner
agrees to that, he must know how he is
going to identify the marker and, where
sales overseas are concerned, what
mechanism is there to enable him to achieve
his objective. If the main issue is customer
assurance, a multi-layered approach often
proves to be the optimum solution. This
offers security features in the paper, within
the label itself and the inks within the
hologram. Managed programmes go a stage
further by offering a solution that will take
the counterfeiters a set period of time to
crack before being faced with a fresh label
with, say, a different type of covert ink. ■
35
TAKE AWAY
■ Active paper packaging is used somewhat
in modified atmosphere packaging (MAP),
while intelligent paper packaging is applied
in the logistics and security sectors.
■ Driven by the savings of packaging food
centrally, MAP is set for big growth.
■ The future of MAP lies in developing high
technology materials in two areas – active
and dynamic packaging.
■ Active paper packaging includes systems
that absorb oxygen, ethylene and moisture
or remove tainting compounds or release
antimicrobial agents, antioxidants, flavours
and/or colour.
■ Oxygen scavenging sachets made of iron-
based powder are a popular food insert
although developments have taken place to
incorporate this through heat sealing into
the package label. They can be used alone
removes the need for MAP machinery and
can increase packaging speeds.
■ Dual action oxygen scavenger/carbon
dioxide emitter sachets and labels have been
developed to stop pack collpase as the volume
of the latter balances the oxygen absorbed.
■ In contrast, the key to smart or intelligent
package indicators is their ability to give
information about the product quality directly,
the package and its headspace and the storage
conditions of the package.
■ In future, it can be expected that a smart
package can contain more complex invisible
messages that can be read from a distance.
Security tags and radio frequency identity tags
are the first examples of electronic labelling.
■ Holography, a big user of paper substrates,
is another security discipline, but requires
expensive artwork. Cheaper options include
threads or infrared and ultra-violet inks.
Rodney Abbot
Rodney Abbott is editor of Packaging Today,
which he joined in 1994. He has edited
monthly business-to-business publications in
the construction, lighting, distribution and
catering industries, and writes for many other
publications, including the Times, Design
Weekly and New Scientist. Abbott has also
worked on a number of news-stand titles,
including SLR Camera and Practical Caravan.
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