This magical bottle might make ‘sell-by’ dates obsolete
EVEN in 2017, we often decide whether the salmon in the back of our refrigerator is still edible by giving it a sniff and looking at the “sell-by” date.
A company called Braskem wants to bring a little more science into the decision.
It has developed away to make plastic food or beverage containers change from one colour to another when they react to the changing pH levels of their contents, a sign that certain products may be spoiling.
Even though this type of technology has existed in some form for decades, Braskem has certain advantages.
The US$ 7 billion ( RM32 billion) plastics- and- chemical company is the largest producer in the Americas of materials that are moulded into bottle caps, jugs, reusable containers, cosmetic packaging and much more.
It has production plants in Brazil, the United States, Mexico and Germany. “Braskem has got the advantages of scale and they are well known in this particular sector for a good quality product,” said Andrew Manly, communications director for the Active and Intelligent Packaging Industry Association.
The idea for this technology originated in Brazil, which has had its share of food safety scandals, including allegations in March that employees at some food companies bribed government inspectors to allow rotten and salmonellacontaminated meat to be sold.
“In the country we’ve seen food that was contaminated, or the package was violated and food contaminated in the production or transportation process, or in the supermarket,” said Patrick Teyssonneyre, Braskem’s director of technology and innovation.
Braskem’s pitch for the technology comes as many consumers continue to be confused about what “sell by” dates are supposed to mean, and typically decide on whether to throw out food by relying on what they see and smell - an imprecise practice that could lead to food poisoning or good food being discarded prematurely.
In the United States, Americans throw away US$ 218 billion worth of food each year, according to the NRDC. The anti-food-waste coalition ReFED estimates that standardised date labels could help save nearly
In the country we’ve seen food that was contaminated, or the package was violated and food contaminated in the production or transportation process, or in the supermarket.
US$ 2 billion.
Bringing a new detection system to market will likely require Braskem to win over not just consumers but costconscious retailers, according to Claire Koelsch Sand, president of the consultancy Packaging Technology and Research and an adjunct professor at Michigan State University.
While food manufacturers drove a lot of change in the 1970s, retailers now serve as important gatekeepers.
Walmart, for instance, drove adoption of RFID tags for tracking goods and Amazon has been pushing for better packaging.
“If this company really wanted to succeed, they would need to partner with not only a food manufacturer, but a retailer,” Koelsch Sand said.
Meghan Stasz, senior director, sustainability at the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said a key challenge is likely to be cost.
“Even if you are looking at a penny additional for your packaging, when you multiply that over a million pieces of packaging it gets cost prohibitive pretty quickly,” Stasz said.
Braskem executives contend that costs should come down as the technology gains wide acceptance. — WP-Bloomberg
Patrick Teyssonneyre, Braskem’s director of technology and innovation