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The advice of meeting for the September gathering of the Australian Institute of Packaging [AIP] said that the theme was Packaging and Food Science & Technology – The two sides of the coin; - where a representative from the AIP will talk about important things concerning packaging and technology relevant to a food science technologist, and this will be complemented by an Australian Food Science and Technology [AIFST] representative talking about important things about food science and technology relevant to a food packaging person.

The audience comprised of members from both AIP and AIFST and totaled in the high fifties with a small majority in favor of AIFST, but that would be expected as during the presentations we learned that food is the largest sector in manufacturing requiring packaging. But having heard about both sides of the coin it would be fair to say that it is more of a “double headed penny” as technologists working in food science or packaging both need to checklist many of the exact same things.

The meeting was the annual joint effort of the two groups when presenters from within the memberships stood before their peers and provided salient indicators of how to develop the optimum food package. The coin had been tossed earlier and Ralph Moyle, the current Victorian AIP Chairperson and Director Southern Electorate had first spin.

Ralph’s presentation covered many issues but was underpinned by an early statement “both must become involved in the whole supply chain”. He went onto give definitions of packaging which can be encapsulated using the same word. Having encapsulated food in what is known as the primary pack it then enters the supply chain and needs secondary and tertiary packing to be available for the consumer. An example would be canned soup in a shelf ready fiberboard shipper on a shrink wrapped pallet.

Interestingly it occurred whilst listening to the speakers that food can have a further critical distribution channel within the domestic environment. A frypan will be removed from its package and the chain ends, but bacon and eggs for the frypan has extended links  for they have to be stored and in some cases resealed, but have to retain the integrity of the package that came from original production.

Food is no different than any other product when designing a package but is completely different in its needs as spoilage can lead to serious side effects, even death! But in the most competitive of markets the packaging technologist will be bombarded by marketing demands to provide differences but retain brand image. Overarching any of these issues will be the legal and environmental requirements such as labeling and recyclability.

Ralph Moyle’s clearest message was to have a most comprehensive check list to connect the food and the package which he succinctly put as “what is the reason”! The other side of the coin seemed reason enough to hand the microphone over to Maurice Pattison, MAIFST a consulting food technologist with a diverse food industry background.

Between the presenters time out was called and fellowship certificates were presented to two AIP members Greg Roberts and Mike Morgan both of whom had been nominated and elevated to Fellow at the recent Annual General Meeting of AIP.

The linchpin of Maurice Pattison’s desideration was that people put food inside their bodies and there is an increased emphasis on diet and health with safety being paramount. He talked about hazard analysis and critical control points with Protection, Preservation and Presentation being the three most important aspects of a food package.

In a tutorial on food science we were taken into the mysteries of spoilage and microbiological impacts on food improperly packaged. Ironclad hygiene and sanitation protocols are paramount in food processing and packaging and there are many variations on the theme. For instance food packaged for a supermarket dairy case commonly known as chilled is more exacting than that destined for the frozen food cabinets, yet the product can be the same. [Consider yogurt which can be found in either part of the Supermarket] Both of these packages are of course different to those “foodies” call shelf stable such as canned, bottled or cartooned staples like  fruit, sauce and breakfast cereals.

We learnt that it is important not to bracket all seemingly similar foods or foods of a generic group, such as cheeses, together and believe that they all have similar potential for food safety implications, because this is not always the case.

Under HACCP [hazard analysis and critical control points] protocols operating in the food industry a company can declare “approved suppliers” which can give some confidence in product delivery but complacency could lead to disaster.

The requirements of a food package are really from production to plate and even at point of sale things like ultra-violet light and incorrect shelf placement can be a problem. A major predicament is failure in integrity of co lour in brands for it is often the brand image that determines the market placement of food products. labeling got a seeing to but Maurice succinctly summed up labeling with the advice “Do what you say on your label before you put it on your label”.

He is a strong advocate for project management of new packages and face to face communication is still his preferred choice although emails are becoming the main communication stream.

Both presenters delivered the same message which was reminding of an advertisement that claimed “oils is not oils”. Food is not food and packages are not packages…each has a life of its own and ignoring the requirements of the product could cost a life.

The moderator for the evening Robin Tuckerman FAIP thanked Ralph and Maurice but the meeting continued for sometime afterwards as delegates discussed the messages.

AIP in Victoria is supported by the Australian Industry Group through the Victorian Government Industry Skills Adviser initiative.

by Michael B Halley FAIP
http://www.aipack.com.au/

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