When it comes to those last globs of ketchup inevitably stuck to every bottle of Heinz, most people either violently shake the container in hopes of eking out another drop or two, or perform the "secret" trick: smacking the "57" logo on the bottle’s neck. But not MIT PhD candidate Dave Smith. He and a team of mechanical engineers and nano-technologists at the Varanasi Research Group have been held up in an MIT lab for the last two months addressing this common dining problem.
The result? LiquiGlide, a "super slippery" coating made up of nontoxic materials that can be applied to all sorts of food packaging [MORE]
Old Ketchup Packet Heads for Trash
See also a previous post on this blog "Today's Packages Make Customers Twist and Shout"
Packaging That Knows When Food Is Going Bad
ScienceDaily (Jan. 7, 2011) — Packaging that alerts consumers to food which is starting to go bad is being developed by researchers at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.
The project aims to improve food safety and cut unnecessary food waste by developing a new type of indicator, made of 'intelligent plastics' which give a warning, by changing colour, of when food is about to lose its freshness because it has broken or damaged packaging, has exceeded its 'best before' date or has been poorly refrigerated. [MORE]
Packaging's not just about having too much!
The French Plastic and Flexible Packaging Association would like you know the important role that packaging plays in ensuring a safe food supply. View the video here.
And from the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), this Scientific Summary entitled Innovative Food Packaging Solutions.
Probing question: Is plastic dangerous?
Sipping water from a bottle after a workout, microwaving a container of leftovers for lunch, giving the baby a bottle of milk: We use plastic every day, without even thinking about it. But numerous reports have suggested that exposure to bisphenol-A, an organic compound present in many food and beverage containers, could actually be damaging to our health. Is plastic dangerous? [MORE]
Update June 2009
Study shows BPA may leach from plastic bottles abstract
In a study published in Environmental Health Perspectives, Harvard School of Public Health researchers found that participants who drank for a week from polycarbonate bottles showed a two-thirds increase in their urine of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA). The study, according to its authors, is the first to show that drinking from polycarbonate bottles increases the level of urinary BPA.
Latest from FDA - January 2010
FDA’s Update on Bisphenol A for Use in Food: January 2010
Bisphenol A (BPA) is an industrial chemical that has been present in many hard plastic bottles and metal-based food and beverage cans since the 1960s. FDA is taking reasonable steps to reduce human exposure to BPA in the food supply. These steps include:
- Supporting the industry’s actions to stop producing BPA-containing baby bottles and infant feeding cups for the U.S. market;
- Facilitating the development of alternatives to BPA for the linings of infant formula cans; and
- Aupporting efforts to replace BPA or minimize BPA levels in other food can linings.
FDA is supporting a shift to a more robust regulatory framework for oversight of BPA. In addition, the Agency is seeking further public comment and external input on the science surrounding BPA.
View this press release in its entirety:
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm064437.htmRead the full January 2010 update on Bisphenol A for use in food contact applications, go to:
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm197739.htmRead Bisphenol A (BPA) Information for Parents:
http://www.hhs.gov/safety/bpa/BPA in Cans Poses Health Threat, Report Claims. May 18, 2010
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/639231.html?campaign_id=rss_topStoriesNovember 1, 2010. Bisphenol A (BPA) in U.S. Food. Enviromental Science and Technology. BPA was found in 63 of 105 sample food samples, including fresh turkey, canned green beans, and canned infant formula. However, levels were 1,000 times lower than the “tolerable daily intake” levels set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Solution, or Mess? A Milk Jug for a Green Earth
NORTH CANTON, The New York Times. Ohio June 30, 2008 — A simple change to the design of the gallon milk jug, adopted by Wal-Mart and Costco, seems made for the times. The jugs are cheaper to ship and better for the environment, the milk is fresher when it arrives in stores, and it costs less.
Amy Wise, of Ohio, said the gallon jug spilled milk everywhere.
Greg Soehnlen, who helps run the company that designed the newfangled jugs, with a pallet at Superior Dairy in Canton, Ohio.
What’s not to like? Plenty, as it turns out [MORE].
What's in those cans beside beer?
When you sip a can of your favorite brew, you are savoring not only fermented grain and hops but just a hint of the same preservative that kept the frog you dissected in 10th-grade biology class lily-pad fresh: formaldehyde. What is formaldehyde doing in beer? [MORE]
This 12 minute streaming video takes you form aluminum sheets all the way though the finished cans and ends being loaded by fork lift on the the trailer.
Today's Packages Make Customers Twist and Shout
Mona Doyle recently filmed people attempting to open bags of pre-cut lettuce. The tape plays like a bit from the television show "America's Funniest Home Videos." Everybody uses force and torque that would otherwise be reserved for the gym. Either the bag opens suddenly and sprays lettuce all over the floor, or defeat is conceded and scissors or knives are employed [LINK].
And, Food and Drug Packaging magazine recently issued their annual packaging report card focusing on what makes packages sell or sit on the shelf.
"Even as packages get more colorful, functional and convenient, shoppers expectations keep rising, and the bar of packaging excellence gets higher"....."No-drip bottles often drip, while zippers are hard to open and zip close. The news isn’t good for squeeze bottles either. They retain too much product and spray triggers just stop working. Ice cream containers leak and flip-tabs are too hard to grab, not to mention break too often. Packages tip over too easily and the ones that don’t still have problems. Safety closure instructions are too difficult to read or understand. Even toothpaste tubes have their flaws. They split and clog up. And many shoppers are annoyed that too many packages don’t travel well [LINK]".
"Today's packages can be murder to open" published in the March 2006 issue of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette agrees with the previous comments [LINK].
