A Review of Different Types of Active Packages, Mechanism and their Application in Food Industry

New food packaging technologies are developing as a response to consumer demands or industrial production trends towards mildly preserved, fresh, tasty, and convenient food products with prolonged shelf-life and controlled quality. In addition, changes in retailing practice (such as market globalization resulting in a longer distribution of food), or consumers way of life (resulting in less time spent shopping fresh food at the market and cooking), present major challenges to the food packaging industry and act as driving forces for the development of new and improved packaging concepts that extend shelf-life while maintaining and monitoring food safety and quality. Traditional food packaging is meant for mechanical support of otherwise non-solid food, and protecting food from external influences, like microorganisms, oxygen, off-odors, light, etc. and, by doing so, guaranteeing convenience in food handling and preserving the food quality for an extended time period. The key safety objective for these traditional materials in contact with foods is to be as inert as possible, i.e., there should be a minimum of interaction between food and packaging. In the past decades, however, one of the most innovative developments in the area of food packaging is the active packaging, based on deliberate interactions with the food or the food environment. The purpose of the 'active packaging' is an extension of the shelf-life of the food and the maintenance or even improvement of its quality.