Protective Packaging for Light-sensitive Foods

GABRIELA M. PASSARETTI; MARIO D. NINAGO; MARCELO A. VILLAR; LÓPEZ, OLIVIA V.

Food Packaging: Innovations and Shelf-Life

CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group

Año: 2019;

Consumer expectations and interests in nutritional aspects and visual appearance, when purchasing food, are important factors that should be taken into account to improve the food industry (Gadioli et al., 2013). Currently, food packaging is strongly linked to material transparency, which must not hide the product but enable its visibility through the packaging (Eldesouky et al., 2015). Nevertheless, many food natural components as well as those added during their preparation are susceptible to light, causing the occurrence of photo-degradative and oxidative reactions (Duncan and Chang, 2012). Foods are exposed to several sources of light during their entire chain of production and commercialization. Some common light sources and their locations are (a) sunlight outdoors (storefronts and windows), (b) incandescent lamps (coolers and storage facilities) and (c) fluorescent lamps (processing areas, display cases and preparation zones). Foods are also exposed to other sources of light, such as germicidal lamps used in walk-in coolers and storage area rooms to reduce bacterial and mould counts as well as black lights used to detect the presence of insects, rodent excreta and other kinds of contamination. When light strikes a food packaging, it can be reflected off the material surface, absorbed by the packaging material, scattered and absorbed by the food and transmitted through the food.