Food Packaging and Shelf Life

The importance of food packaging hardly needs emphasizing since only a handful of foods are sold in an unpackaged state. With an increasing focus on sustainability and cost-effectiveness, responsible companies no longer want to over-package their food products, yet many remain unsure just where reductions can effectively be made. Food Packaging and Shelf Life: A Practical Guide provides package developers with the information they need to specify just the right amount of protective packaging to maintain food quality and maximize shelf life.

Current food packaging must take into consideration the biochemical, chemical, physical, and biological changes that occur during processing, distribution, and storage. Organized according to chapters devoted to specific food products, this practical handbook defines the indices of failure for foods as diverse as milk, fruits, bottled water, juices, vegetables, fish, and beef. It discusses the deteriorative reactions for each food and reviews how different packaging materials may influence time to failure and thus shelf life. Other topics included biobased packaging, packaging and the microbial shelf life of foods, and shelf life testing methodology.

Gordon L. Robertson is a food packaging consultant, author, and trainer, and an adjunct Professor in the School of Land, Crop, and Food Sciences at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. Previously, he was Vice President for Environmental & External Affairs for Tetra Pak in their Asia Regional Headquarters for 11 years. Prior to that, he was Foundation Professor of Packaging Technology at Massey University, New Zealand where he taught courses on food packaging for 21 years. Dr. Robertson is also the author of both editions of Food Packaging Principles & Practice (CRC Press, 2006).