Packaging

Year 10

Aims of today's lesson:

• To understand recycling symbols used on food packaging

• To look at the purposes of packaging

• To understand what tamper-evident packaging is and why it is used?

• To look at the importance of composting

3 stages of packaging

• Primary packaging is what the consumer sees at the point of sale. It needs to adequately contain and protect the food product, as well as displaying it and carrying information about it

• Secondary packaging is the middle layer of packaging - for example a cardboard box with a number of identical products inside

• Transit packaging is the outer container that allows easier handling during transfer between factory, distribution centres and retailers

3 stages of packaging

Why is food packaged?

• -easy for transport• -easy to store

-easy to display• -when sealed, prevents spillage and loss• -identifies a product, labelling, attracts the customer• -protects from damage so reduces waste

– -physical damage– -contamination from chemicals– -Atmospheric conditions (warm may cause fruit to brown)– -increases shelf life

Food packaging must not do 3 things:

• -be hazardous to human health

• -cause the food to deteriorate

• -cause unacceptable changes in the substance or quality of the product

What is tamper-evident packaging?

• Techniques to see whether a product has been opened or not? E.g.

• -plastic collars on sauce bottles• -film overwraps on cardboard boxes• -tear-away strips around the top of plastic

bottles• -tin foil seals in pourable boxes e.g. fruit

juice• -pop up lids on jars

Composting? • These are considered ‘Greens’. Greens are quick to rot and they provide

important nitrogen and moisture.• Vegetable peelings• Fruit waste• Teabags• Plant prunnings• Grass cuttings• Crushed eggshells

• These are considered ‘Browns’ and are slower to rot. They provide fibre and carbon and also allow important air pockets to form in the mixture.

• Cardboard egg boxes• Scrunched up paper• Fallen leaves

• Biodegradable- they naturally rot in the environment so they won’t add to landfill.

Packaging ActivityFood product and packaging material

Advantages of packaging

Disadvantages of packaging

Has it been made from recyclable materials? How do you know? Draw logo

Can it be recycled? How do you know?

What could it be turned into?

Has too much or too little packaging been used?

Labels must tell you certain information by law:

• The name of the product and what it is • The weight or volume of the product• How to store the product• Use by or best before date• The name and address of manufacturer• The country it comes from e.g. if there's a

Jamaican flag on the label but it was made in the UK it must say ‘ made in the UK’.

• Cooking instructions• A list of ingredients in descending order of

weight• Allergy problems e.g. nuts

Non legal requirements:

• Nutritional information doesn’t have to be on by law…UNLESS they make a special nutritional claim, such as low fat or high fibre.

• Symbols e.g. V for vegetarians

• Traffic light labelling, red, orange, green, high, medium, low amounts of saturated fat, salt and sugar.

Questions1. Give 3 reasons why food is packaged?2. State 1 of the 3 things it’s not allowed to do3. Give 1 advantage and 1 disadvantage of glass4. Give 1 advantage and 1 disadvantage of

plastic5. Give a reason why packaging could be bad for

the environment?

Answers:

1. Contain the product neatly, protect the product when transported/displayed, to preserve, avoid contamination, identify, give customers info.

2. Hazardous to health, make food go off, cause an unacceptable change in quality.

3. A. Strong, transparent, resistant to high temps, reused, recycled. D. heavy, breaks easy

4. A. Rigid, transparent, microwavable, light, printed on. D. doesn’t biodegrade, some can’t be recycled.

5. Uses energy, excess packaging, thrown away and not recycled, not biodegradable

Homework:

• Find out what is meant by:– Carbon footprint– Eco footprint– Fair trade– Genetically modified (GM)– Smart materials– Renewable source– Ethical trading

– Hand in Monday 18th Oct

• Carbon footprint –grow your own fruit and veg, buy seasonal and local

• Eco footprint - reduce the amount of resources you use by purchasing items with minimal packaging and reuse empty containers

• Fair trade – buy fairtrade products, chocolate or tea

• Smart materials - functional foods that claim to improve health in some way, eg. Benecol. Pizza toppings where the topping thickens when heated in the oven in order not run off the pizza, but becomes runny on cooling, ready for eating