Food Packaging Innovation

Specialty packaging called ripeSense, once used to package pears in Wal-Mart stores, displayed a dot that changed color with the fruit ripened, expelling ethylene gas. Customers could choose, without squeezing the fruit or guessing the texture, whether they wanted crisp, firm or juicy pears (see photo)

Even more important than selecting crisp or juicy fruit, of course, is knowing whether that food is harboring a dangerous pathogen. Researchers are designing packaging that could alert consumers to a pathogen in the food or to a food product that’s nearing the end of its shelf life, Cooksey said.

A French company has developed a sensor that can detect if food has been “temperature abused,” or stored at an inappropriately cold or hot level. If temperature abuse is detected, the sensor will block out a portion of the product barcode, prohibiting a customer from purchasing it. “That way the consumer doesn’t have to make a decision,”

SmartPlanet

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