Reliable packaging for chemical-free food
It is not obvious when examining a wrapped lettuce or a microwavable bowl of Chinese soup. But plastic food packaging is made of multiple layers designed to act as a barrier for oxygen or bacteria. "Each of these layers is made by a different manufacturer. Still, at the end of the chain, the food manufacturer who sells the packaged product is the sole responsible for food safety," notes Olivier Vitrac, a researcher at the Genial joint research unit of the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA-Agroparistech), located in Massy, near Paris. Scientists have been addressing the issue of such potentially harmful molecules diffusing from one layer to the next in food packaging, susceptible to ultimately contaminate the food. This work has been performed under the SafeFoodPackDesign project, coordinated by Vitrac and funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR).