Packaging
New packaging technologies and food safety We eat to live, so we choose to eat what we believe is safe and clean. Can the new packaging technologies, like active and intelligent packaging technologies, meet consumers need for food safety, asks Angelica Buan in this report.
F
ood safety is a global health issue, says the World Health Organisation (WHO), which estimated that one in ten people or 600 million people around the world are affected with food-borne illness, particularly from contaminated food. In the US alone, health authorities lose nearly US$16 billion a year to food contamination. In fact, a 2015 study by an Ohio State University Professor estimated that sufferers from food contamination incur losses totalling US$55.5 billion. Southeast Asia posts an alarming rate of food contamination mortality: it has been reported that some 175,000 people die from food contamination a year, citing latest WHO data on the region. WHO Regional Director for Southeast Asia, Poonam Khetrapal Singh, stated that hygiene, adequate food production and storage conditions, to mention a few, are challenging parameters for the low and middle income sectors, further suggesting that food safety must be considered a public health priority. Indeed, the region is beginning to tackle food safety concerns. Malaysia recently launched the Asean Risk Assessment Centre for Food Safety. It aims to be a regional coordinating centre for independent food safety risk assessment, and will also formulate scientific opinions and provide advice on the safety of food. It will contribute to the enhancement of the health of the ASEAN Community and facilitate its food trade, says the country’s Health Ministry. China is clearing its image as having low standards of food safety and has come up with a new food safety law – dubbed as the strictest of known food safety laws. It took effect 1 October 2015. The law underscores the implementation of technologies such as detection, traceability and anti-counterfeiting to establish food quality system.
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MARCH / APRIL 2016
Food contamination from inadequate hygiene, food storage conditions and processing is a global health issue according to WHO
In Thailand, the Ministry of Public Health-led Food Act B.E. 2522 safeguards consumers against foodrelated health hazards with labelling, food production and import control, registration of food operations and approval of packaging materials, to cite a few of the provisions. Moreover, organisations are taking an active role in implementing food control measures. Vietnam is also battling with food safety concerns. Reports say that the consumption of organically grown food is a growing trend, to avoid chemical-laced produce. Recipe for recall Food products manufacturers and processors who are found to violate food standards face fines or recalls. The last thing that a company wants is to be faced by costs of the recall, lost sales, brand damage and customer loyalty. Recently, US food manufacturer Bumble Bee Foods had to execute a voluntary recall. It had to pull off the shelves 31,000 cases of its canned tuna, suspected to be processed by a facility not owned or operated by the company, and thus, the tuna faced possible spoilage from bacteria that could pose life-threatening illnesses if consumed. This incident highlights the role of processing technology in combatting food contamination caused by the presence of pathogenic organisms, notably from poorly processed foods.