Do you ever think about food packaging? Have you ever chosen a food or drink based on eye catching packaging or the health claims on the front of pack? Do you think about recycling when choosing food packaging?
I admit, I don’t often think about food packaging except when some clever name grabs my attention or when I check the recycling icon on plastic packaging to find out if my recycling center accepts it or if I must toss it (my recycling center takes only 1 or 2 plastics.)
I learned a lot about food packaging in a recent food and nutrition conference and here is a little quiz to see how much you know about food packaging.
Question: Packaging protects food by:
- Sealing in freshness
- Locking out pathogens, like bacteria
- Keeping food safe
- All of the above
Answer: All of the above. In addition, packaging serves to convey information about the product, including nutrition information and ingredients list. Packaging also is use for market and promotion.
Question: Packaging extends shelf life:
- True
- False
- Unsure
Answer: True. While we often hear “eat only fresh, whole foods,” that is not always practical or affordable. Fresh tomatoes may be delicious, but they don’t last very long. Yet, canned tomatoes have a long shelf life. Packaged food extends shelf life and can help you reduce foods waste. Fruit and vegetables are among the most wasted foods at home. How many of you have had to toss fresh greens gone bad or a mushy apple hiding in the back of the veggie bin?
Question: Tin cans are made of tin.
- True
- False
- Unsure
Answer: False, “contrary to its name, a tin can made using modern processes actually contains no tin but is made of steel,” says Dr. David S. Smith, a packaging guru.
Question: Packaged foods, especially canned foods, are stripped of nutrients and loaded with salt and/or sugar.
- True
- False
Answer: False, still many people label canned or frozen vegetables and fruits as nutrient-dead foods. When in fact, most are nutrient-rich foods. Foods are harvested at the peak of freshness and delivered to canning, freezing, processing centers to be packaged to preserve nutrient quality. It is true that some water-soluble vitamins (like, B-vitamins and Vitamin C) are lost (but, not depleted) in some food processing, but the same happens when you cook food at home.
Reading labels can let you know if the food has added sugars or if they are processed without added sugar or added salt. Rinsing canned vegetables reduces sodium; for canned beans, the reduction in sodium from rinsing can be as high as 40%.
Question: Bisphenol-A (BPA) is found as a liner in steel cans so you should avoid canned foods.
- True
- False
The answer is false, because BPA has been removed as a can liner.
BPA, used to coat the inside of a can, was suspected by consumers of causing health problems, even though many health and environmental groups showed that BPA had little ability to cause ill health. The Food & Drug Administration supports the use of BPA as a can liner. However, public perception led the industry to remove BPA from steel cans and now the industry uses different materials (such as acrylic, polyester, and other non-BPA compounds) as can liners.
A Canned Food Market Basket Report found that nearly 100% of food cans sampled did not contain BPA as a component of the lining, confirming the industry’s move to the use of new linings in food cans. To read more, click here.
Question: The most recycled package in the world, with a 65% recycled rate, is:
- Glass
- Aluminum
- Steel cans
- Plastic bottles
Steel cans are the most recycled package in the world. That surprised me because I guessed glass or aluminum was the most recycle packaging. There is a difference between recyclable and recycled! Not everything that is recyclable is recycled….how many of you recycle? For many, the answer is no because it is too hard or too time consuming and there are uncertainties about what happens to those materials filling up recycling bins. I used to live in a community with weekly curb-side recycling but now I have to separate and haul paper, cardboard, glass, aluminum, cans, and plastic (but, only numbers 1 and 2) to a recycle center many miles from my house.
The most interesting part of the session on food packaging is the innovations that are in the works…. innovations to make packaging more user friendly, easier to recycle, and more environmentally friendly. For example, in Brazil, Heinz Ketchup introduces a label with implantable tomato seeds…peel the label and plant tomatoes!
Next time you shop, stop to appreciate how the packaging helps keep foods fresh, makes it affordable, keeps your family safe, and don’t forget to reuse or recycle!
Disclosure: The session, “Unwrapping the Realities of Food Packaging” by Dr. David S. Smith, was sponsored by cannedbeans.org. My travel expenses were paid to attend the conference, but I was not asked or compensated to write this post. All of the enthusiasm for learning and writing about food packaging is my own!
Chris Rosenbloom is a registered dietitian and nutrition professor emerita at Georgia State University. She is the co-author of Food & Fitness After 50 and writes about eating well, moving well, and being well for those of us over 50, 60, 70, and beyond. Click here to follow her blog.
