Packaging and Polymers: The New Generation

Dear Colleagues,

In the last decade, the need for new food packaging technologies has become more and more consistent. Consumer demands and industrial production trends dictate research into mildly preserved, fresh, tasty, convenient, high-quality food products with a longer shelf life. Further, market globalization has resulted in a longer food distribution and consumers’ hectic lifestyle has resulted in less time spent shopping and cooking fresh food, both of which are acting as driving forces in the development of new and better packaging concepts in order to extend food shelf-life while maintaining and constantly monitoring food safety and quality. In the last decade, the most innovative developments in the area of food packaging are bio-based and biodegradable packaging, as well as active and intelligent packaging. The purpose is to respect environmental concerns as well as the need for freshness, quality, and safety of food.

Due to the interaction between packaging and the environment when it comes to food, the safety of those new technologies must be compared to that of traditional ones. Innovation in packaging is now limited to a small number of materials, such as barrier materials. However, food packaging does not just have a passive role for food product protection. New concepts of packaging can offer numerous and innovative solutions for extending food shelf-life while maintaining, improving, and/or continuously monitoring food quality and safety.

The aim of this Special Issue is to give an overview of ongoing scientific and industrial research, of recent technological breakthroughs, and of emerging food packaging technologies developed in order to try to solve the emerging need for new and efficient processes, for controlling and solving safety and quality food concerns through the supply chain and to reduce product (food and material) loss. The new generation of packaging material is now called to solve several functions, such as protecting, sensing, detecting, recording, and controlling any change in the product, in the package, and/or its environment.

Research as well as review articles are welcome.

Prof. Valentina Siracusa
Guest Editor

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