With increasing intensity, consumers seek products that are preservative-free, organic and healthy. This wellness trend is here to stay, and continues to penetrate deeper into major consumer demographics. Health-and-wellness products already represent 20% of the packaged food market and are growing twice as fast. Within the last few years, the wellness trend has even grown to include concerns over the safety of food packaging.
As consumers grow more determined to understand the ingredients in their food, they have begun to realize that packaging plays a significant role in the quality of their food. Anything that touches the food product, called food-contact packaging, deserves scrutiny and investigation. What good is a healthy product if it’s packaged in material that can degrade the food or introduce unwanted ingredients? Since packaging is often considered the final element of a product, it can be considered an out-gredient, therefore it is important to understand the underlying materials used in food packaging.