(217c) Food Phantom Packaging: Prolonging Product Shelf Life Via Microstructure Engineering of Particulate Consumer Foods

Driven by consumer trends and environmental commitments to reduce conventional plastic and metal packaging in the food supply chain, consumer food companies are racing to develop alternative packaging solutions, mainly focussing on paper-based substitutes [1].

A paradigm shift in packaging innovation integrates the barrier properties of packaging into the food microstructure, fulfilling an invisible protection from the environment while reducing dependence on external conventional wrapping material, thus enabling increased packaging paperisation or even zero-waste schemes. We demonstrate the successful application of our microstructure engineering approach for oil containing seasoning tablets and show that unwanted oil-release into absorbing paper packaging can be reduced and unpleasant oil stains entirely prevented. For example, by reducing the food particle size of crystalline ingredients tenfold from D50 = 500 to 50 µm, we managed to achieve a 100% retention of oil within the food structure, thereby protecting the packaging from negative visual effects. In accelerated shelf-life tests the oil-release into sample paper wrappers was monitored via first-of-its kind Raman Laser Chemical Imaging coupled with automated optical image analysis (Fig. 1 a, b). The capillary flow phenomenon of oil in the food structure was modelled fluid-mechanically from first principles, correlating microstructural properties with shelf-life performance (Fig. 1 c). While a multitude of prior research has been conducted on the process of porous media imbibition with liquids in the area of engineering materials [2] or food [3], the phenomena of liquid release from food microstructures into a second porous medium such as packaging is little reported.

As such, this work contributes to explain food metastability resulting from liquid transport through model food tablets with the aim to harness particle engineering to innovate more shelf-stable food microsystems for a waste-free packaging future, ensuring food safety, affordability, and consumer acceptance.

[1] B.L. Tardy, et al., Nature Sustainability, 6 (2023) 360-367.

[2] S. Gruener, P. Huber, Transport in Porous Media, 126 (2019) 599-614.

[3] J. Kammerhofer et al., Powder Technology, 339 (2018) 765-774.