Reduce Food-Born Illnesses with Professional Packaging Services

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Technological advancements in the food and beverage packaging industry continue to be made. This makes a significant impact on these products’ quality and safety. Furthermore, these advancements have also contributed to waste reduction, which makes a positive social and environmental impact.

When consumers recognize a brand known for representing social and environmental concerns, they tend to choose that brand rather than another. Approximately 52% of consumers worldwide are able to identify these brands by their packaging. In other words, there is a direct correlation with brand recognition and product packaging choices.

On an annual basis, approximately 48 million people become ill from food-born diseases. Out of this number, 128,000 need to be hospitalized, and unfortunately 3,000 die. A significant portion of these cases could be prevented with proper food packaging and other safety measures.

Just 1 type of food packaging machine that can prevent food from spoiling is a vacuum sealer. These machines are able to preserve food 3 to 5 times longer than less-effective storage methods such as plastic bags and containers.

Plastic packaging can also reduce food waste and preserve its quality. Experts in the packaging field have estimated that food waste can be reduced up to 1.7 pounds for each pound of plastic packaging. When storing beverages such as juice, water, and soda, for example, just 2 pounds of plastic can contain approximately 10 gallons of fluid. By way of comparison, it would take 3 pounds of aluminum, 8 pounds of steel, or over 40 pounds of glass to contain the same amount.

It’s also important to note that since 1977, 2-liter plastic soft drink bottles have experienced a weight-reduction. Previously, they weighed in at 68 grams, while currently, they just weigh 47 grams. In 2006 alone, this saved over 180 million pounds of packaging materials.

There is also an increased access to plastic recycling programs. Current estimates indicate that around 148 million people in the United States have access to these programs. Given that these programs are easier to access, it is believed that more individuals are recycling rather than throwing these plastic containers away.

There are also additional safety measures in place, such as X-ray machines for food inspection. These state-of-the-art machines are able to discover poultry bones as small as 2 millimeters.

Food metal detectors are also integral to determining where there are any contaminates contained in them. They are able to detect a variety of metallic contaminates, which can be categorized into 3 primary groups:

  • Ferrous
  • Non-Ferrous
  • Stainless Steel

A typical metal detector application, for example, has the ability to determine small amounts of these contaminants. Frequently, these can be measured at 1.5 millimeters or less. Most importantly, this improves the level of food safety, and can also provide brand protection.

Since it is of the utmost importance to protect the integrity of food and beverages, it makes sense to utilize a food packaging machine to vacuum-seal a variety of products. Furthermore, using a food packaging machine in combination with other safety measures, can profoundly reduce the number of people that become ill as a result of food-born diseases.