New Food Technology from Shellfish Can Replace Plastic Wrap

 

Protect Foods With a Thin Film Made From Natural Ingredients

 

What can ever replace plastic wrap – that food saving film that you both love and hate?  At long last a new eco-friendly edible food film has been discovered by researchers at Oregon State University’s  Department of Food Science and Technology. This food protective edible fiber make a thin film food wrap to cover sandwiches, fruits, and vegetables by spraying or dipping the foods in a liquid made from two natural foods. The bio-wrap, combines chitosan, a fiber derived from shellfish, and lysozyme from egg white protein.

By combining these two ingredients in a patented process, fresh fruits and other foods can be dipped into a liquid soup to provide an organic air-tight coaiting protecting food against microbial infection as well as preserving more of its nutrient content. The thin-film is perfectly edible and would even add a little bit of fiber and protein to consumers' diets.

Both of these ingredients are natural anti-microbial compounds, meaning they resist infection from microbes, molds, and fungi. That characteristic would potentially enhance the shelf life of foods, which could both deliver more nutritious foods to consumers and reduce the cost of such foods thanks to reduced spoilage. This thin-film coating can also be enhanced with additional vitamins and minerals such as calcium or vitamin E to boost the nutritional value of the food being protected.

This futuristic innovation is a fiber that has been provided by nature. The researchers have recombined two of nature's ingredients in a way that is more compatible with modern food processing, manufacturing, and packaging demands. This thin film sould be quite inexpensive to manufacture and use, meaning it would add little or no cost to packaged foods.

A additional great societal benefit of this breakthrough technology is the reduction of plastic waste all the way from the manufacturing site to the end users.  Further, plastic packaging is in itself a health risk to consumers. Plastic and plastic wrap is manufactured from petroleum products. If we can reduce plastic packaging (especially packaging in direct contact with foods) and move toward food wrappers that are made from natural edible ingredients such as chitosan and egg protein, then we can reduce some of the health risks associated with the consumption of packaged, processed foods.

Chitosan, which is derived from shellfish, tends to absorb and bind with dietary fats. It is sometimes used to reduce fat absorption in diets. So if you ate a food item that was wrapped in this new film, some of the chitosan in the film would bind with the oils in the meal you just ate and prevent your body from absorbing them. This could cause some regulatory scrutiny in the permit process.

So here we have science working the way it should: improving health, saving costs and reducing stress on the the environment by reducing, perhaps even eliminating, plastic wrap and plastic packaging. Welcome to the future…   

 

 

 

 

 

by Rob Long

Senior Editor