Friday, January 31, 2014

Important Facts Concerning Plastic Food Packaging

By Serena Price


For quite a long time, man has always been using various ways and methods of packing consumables and other edibles. This was after careful evaluation of the pros and cons of using a particular method. Some of these methods earned and gained more popularity than others because of many reasons with plastic food packaging being one of them. This is a method of storage that has remarkably caught the attention of many manufacturers and processors. The reason behind the wide use of this method is due to the fact that it is one of the cheapest methods.

Basically in this method of packing, the edible materials and items are put in plastic containers and boxes. These containers are very many and of many different shapes. These include cubes, cuboids, tetra packs, and cones among many others. Apart from these, polythene bags are also a mode of plastic packaging. The diversity of these shapes makes this method of storage very versatile and of great recommendation.

Prior to the actual process of packing, there is one factor that is normally taken into consideration so as to arrive at the most ideal way of packaging. This factor is the type and nature of edibles to be stored which is either liquid or solid. For solids, the most ideal way of storage is in solid plastic containers. The reason is mainly because solids are considered to be a bit rough and therefore require a method of packaging that can sustain them. Others can also be stored in polythene bags these are mostly the light ones.

Storage and packing of fluids and liquids is usually very simple and easy. This is basically due to the fact liquids are normally smooth and hence no complex methods have to be employed. In most cases, they are packed in polythene. In other instances, solid plastic containers can also be used depending on what the manufacturers prefer.

Before packaging is done, there are some few and very crucial aspects that must be taken into consideration. First of all, the safety of the containers has to be carefully checked to ensure that the edible item does not become a health hazard or toxic to the consumers. It is because of this that sterilization of the containers has to be done so as to kill any germs and bacteria that could have been present and which would have caused expiry of the edibles.

The great preference for this method has been as a result of the many advantages with which this method has come with. First of all this is a very cheap method to use since not much resource is required. In addition, it is greatly preferred since food stored in this method really last for long periods of time without going bad. Because of this, it is mainly used to store substances for people living and working in famine stricken areas.

However, in spite of all those merits, this is one method that is proving to be an environmental hazard. This is due to the fact that human beings just dispose these plastics all over causing the surroundings to look ugly. In addition, these are non-biodegradable materials hence do not decay or rot.

Generally, plastic food packaging is very cheap and economical compared to other methods. However, manufacturers should also take into consideration its effects on the environment.




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