The document discusses food packaging materials. It describes the main purposes of food packaging as protecting contents from chemical, biological, and physical deterioration. Common packaging materials mentioned include glass, metals, paper/paperboard, and plastics. Specific materials discussed in more detail include aluminum, laminates, thermoplastics, and paperboard. The document also provides examples of innovative packaging like Tetra Pak cartons and examples of less recyclable packages like chip bags and toothpaste tubes. Site visits to Greek food companies Panini, Kandylas, Venus Growers, and a fish farm describe their use of various packaging materials and standards.

1. ERASMUS+
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
5th
General Lyceum of Veroia, Greece
Food packaging
2nd
Thematic section

2. What is packaging?
“ the introduction of products into bags, tubes,
boxes, bottles, cans.”
What for?
To maintain the content and keep its
efficiency at high rate. To protect the
content/products.

3. To protect products from
• Chemical deterioration (due to oxygen, light,
humidity)
• Biological deterioration (micro-organisms)
• Physical deterioration(mechanical damage)

4. What packaging materials are used to
keep products-food safe?
Materials traditionally used for food packaging are
• Glass
• Metals (aluminium, foils and laminates, tinplate, and tin-free
steel)
• Paper and paperboard
• Plastics
Today's food packages often combine several materials so as
to exploit the functional or aesthetic properties of each one.

5. Glass used is
• Odorless
• Chemically not active
• Impenetrable to gazes and vapors
• Transparent
• Rigid/good insulator
• Good for heat sterilization
BUT
• It is fragile
• its heavy weight adds transportation costs

6. Metals
• High rate of protection
• High fill and closure
• Decorative potential
• Recyclability
BUT
• It is heavy
• Not all metals are recycled
• Not all of them can be used again
• The most commonly used are aluminium,
laminates and metallized films

7. alluminium
• highly resistant to most
forms of corrosion
• effective barrier to the
effects of air, temperature,
moisture, chemical attack
• flexible, surface resilient,
excellent shapeness
BUT
• Due to its inability to be
welded, it is only used for
seamless containers.

8. Laminates and metallized films
• Laminates contain polyethelene,
aluminium and treated paper covering
• Metallized films are plastics containing
a thin layer of aluminium metal
• Laminated aluminium is expensive ,
metallized films are less expensive,
more flexible
• Both of them are recyclable
BUT
• there is difficulty in sorting and
separating them so their recycling is
feasible

9. Plastics
• Low cost compared to other materials
• Fluid and moldable
• chemically resistant (the latest made plastics)
• inexpensive and lightweight
• heat sealable, easy to print
BUT
• Permeable to gases, vapors, light

10. 2 major categories of plastics:
“thermosets and thermoplastics”
• Thermosets are not for food
packaging
• Thermoplastics are easily
shaped and molded/ ideal for
food packaging.
• virtually all thermoplastics are
recyclable
BUT
separation poses some practical
limitations for certain
products.

11. Paper and paperboard
(date back to the 17th century)
• Plain paper is not used to protect foods for long periods
of time.
• To be used in food packaging , it is treated, coated,
laminated, or made solid with materials such as waxes,
lacquers to improve functional and protective
properties.

12. • Paperboard is thicker than paper
• It is commonly used to make boxes, cartons, and trays
• seldom used for direct food contact
• Paper laminates
• Paper laminates are coated or uncoated papers. They can be
laminated with plastic or aluminum
BUT
• Lamination, substantially, increases the cost of paper.
Types of paper used in food packaging

13. Tetra pak- A packaging innovation
• The Product and the package are sterilized separately. Then
combined and sealed in a sterile atmosphere in contrast to
canning, where product and package are first combined and
then sterilized .
• Tetra pak packages can be preserved up to one year. This has
a result that distribution and storage costs of a product is
reduced.
BUT
• Tetra Pak cartons are more difficult to be recycled than tin
cans and glass bottles.

14. Packages not so good
• The chip bag
• The problem: The typical snack chip bag is made
from up to seven layers of foil and plastic.
Companies like this because these bags are light,
reduce shipping volume, don’t take up much space
on a shelf, and are graphics friendly. The downside is
that there’s currently no machinery to separate
these layers, so they aren’t recyclable.

15. Packages not so good
• Single-serving foods
• The problem: Size and material are two of the
biggest factors for recyclability: in general, the
smaller a package and the greater its mix of
materials, the less recyclable it is.

16. Packages not so good
• The toothpaste tube and the toothbrush
• The problem: The small size, blended material and
leftover toothpaste inside toothpaste tubes – and
other tube-based containers – make recycling almost
impossible. As for toothbrushes, their slender shape
and blend of plastic and nylon bristles make them
tough to disassemble and recycle.

17. Packages not so good
• The online purchase
• The problem: Companies and private sellers that
deliver products through the mail often over-
package, putting a pre-boxed item in a second box,
and sometimes even a third one. This practice, which
Dancy calls the “Russian doll” approach, is
exceedingly wasteful.

18. Packages not so good
• The dreaded pizza box
• The problem: Pizza boxes – and many other takeout
containers – are made of recyclable materials, but
when cheese or other food scraps stick to the
cardboard, they are no longer recyclable.

19. The presentation of our visits
PANINI
• Panini, a Greek company,
distributes its products all
over Greece.
• It mainly manufactures
fresh and tasty sandwiches
with pure ingredients such
as turkey, bacon, cheese,
tomatoes, lettuce etc.
• They also sell packed crispy
croissants, delicious burgers
and hot dogs.

20. PANINI
• Mrs Despoina Mavropoulou, a
food technician of the company
said that
the packaging materials are
from polyethylene and
multilayer which are recyclable.
• The more the layers the higher
the price.
• The criteria of choosing a
packaging material are
primarily the quality and
secondly the price. They use
the same packaging for the
distribution all over Greece.

21. PANINI
• These materials are suitable for
preventing the ‘’immigration’’ of
substances onto the product.
• The ink they use for the
decoration of the packaging is
appropriate for the deterioration
of the absorption from nasty
substances.
• Mrs. Mavropoulou also talked
about the rules they have to
follow so that they succeed in
good quality and fresh products.
• They have to abide by ISO 22000
which is an international standard

22. ΚΑΝDΥLΑΣ from 1927
• “Kandylas Company“ produces
traditional sweets: halva and
tahini Verias (from sesame
seeds), glucose syrup, syrup
pastries, traditional vanilla,
sweets, marmalades,
handmade loukoumi and sweet
preserves.
• Kandylas Company exports its
products all over the world.
• We interviewed, a food
technologist of the company.

23. ΚΑΝΔΥΛΑΣ from 1927
• The company uses a variety of
packaging materials.
• The company uses dormant
materials in order to protect the
consumers. So they avoid the
immigration of substances into
products.
• They follow international
standards and the food
technologist said that the
European restrictions are
stricter than the restrictions of
the Greek legislation.

24. ΚΑΝΔΥΛΑΣ from 1927
• We also had the
opportunity to watch
how they produce and
pack halva and other
products and of course
we tasted them!

25. • Τhe corporation was
established in 1964. It
began as a farmer
producers cooperation
distributing fruits and
vegetables, especially
peaches, in both inland and
outland.
• In 1992, Venus moves
towards fruit processed
production by initializing its
canning factory in the town
of Veria.

26. VENUS GROWERS
• From 1992 and until 2004
the corporation enters a
new era by introducing
automation in most parts of
the production and
shipping.
• The company builds new
warehouses and upgrades
its technologies according
to European standards.

27. VENUS GROWERS
• The containers that they
create are mostly metal and
plastic ones, which have
multilayer plastic films.
• In addition the packets are
made out of propylene,
which is airtight, blurred
and the oxygen can pass
through it.
• The company does not use
glass, because this material
can break and small pieces
may be mixed with its food
content, leading to the
possibility of injuries.
• It is important to mention
that the containers are
getting pasteurized, so that
to avoid the transport of
bacteria and other
substances in the food.

28. VENUS GROWERS
• Greece produces a
percentage of 30% in
peaches, around the world.
• The area of Imathia grows
the most peach trees in
Greece.
• Venus final products are
sold to international
corporations, and through
them the exports abroad
are accomplished.
• Furthermore, the company
exports its products in
many countries, including
China.

29. Fish Farming in Lakonia

30. General Information

31. We were able to run
a conversation
through Skype with
the owner of the
company, and thus
we collected the
information we
needed.

32. General Information
Τhis company is one of the first fish farming units in
Greece. it was founded in 1969.
For 45 years the firm has been dealing with the
production of trout and the last 10 years they started
breeding a species of salmon and oxirynchos,

33. General Information
This particular farm offers an execellent living
environment for trouts and salmons, two species
that have many similarities with each other.The
oxirynchos has some important differencies with the
Coho salmon, which habitats the Pacific Ocean, so
the climate of the mountain is suitable for its
survivor.

34. Τhe Fish Farming Facillities

35. Materials (1)
The corporation breeds and wraps salmon in the
farm itself.
Regarding the packaging methods, they use plastic
bags and the fish are being packed in air pocket.
With the materials they use, the transport of
substances can be avoided.

36. Materials (2)
To maintain the food they also use vases of glass
filled with oil, salt and vinegar.Τhe best preservation
can be achieved with the use of plastic bags, because
glass is not a practial material. Μοreover they use
some concrete materials, with the condition of not
letting marks on the products or changing the
product.

37. Materials (3)
Moreover popular among them is the use of
paper and glass packaging, which are friendly
to the environment and recyclable, while
plastic is not.

38. Sterilization
The air pocket bags are received sterilized,
but the vases are sterilized in the company. If
the package is swelled, then the product must
not be consumed, because it may haven’t
been sterilised with carefullness, or have been
infected, thus leading to the creation of
bacteria.

39. Cost- Caviar
Their very first priority is the quality of the food, then
come the cost.
Furthermore they produce caviar of salmon, the
known black caviar, its production is a bit difficult
and it is packed in glass vases.

40. Exports
 Their products are being sent in all Greece.
 In addition they have started making some
exports in the lands of Europe.

41. Exports
 Their products are being sent in all Greece.
 In addition they have started making some
exports in the lands of Europe.

42. Suggestions …
• Researches related to the food packaging
innovations topic which are carried out by
universities and researching institutes should be
exploited by european authorities and be given as
instructions to the European countries so as the
companies apply the packaging innovations to
their policy.
• Consumers , through municipality campaigns,
media, school programmes, such as our Erasmus
project, should become aware of the food
packaging innovations. So they would become
more sensitive to the food packaging issue and
would learn to choose food that is packaged
according to the latest regulations.

43. Research websites
• http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.
1750-3841.2007.00301.x/pdf
• http://www.ift.org/food-packaging.aspx

44. Thank you for your attention!
ERASMUS+
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
5th
General Lyceum of Veroia, Greece