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Pkg evolving from protective layer to health-supporting system
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Thursday, 04 June, 2026, 15 : 00 PM [IST]
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Dr Prashant Sahni
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Imagine driving through the solitary sand dunes of Jaisalmer and suddenly craving a chilled beverage, or strolling across the majestic landscape of snowcapped mountains with an urge to sip hot coffee. Or perhaps, one day, you simply have a quirky wish out of the blue for a magical cup that pours cholesterol-free milk just for you. What if all this turns out to be true: a can that is capable of self-heating and cooling or a package that magically pours a cholesterol- and lactose-free milk in your cup? What might have looked like a snapshot from a sci-fi fantasy movie in the past has now become a reality, thanks to innovation in packaging. From being merely, a medium for delivering products to becoming an interactive platform that communicates and engages with consumers, packaging has left no stone unturned in revolutionising the food industry through enhanced quality, safety, premiumisation, and customisation.
The Indian food packaging industry has experienced significant growth in recent years, driven by the rise of e-commerce platforms and quick delivery services. The India food packaging market was valued at US$14.2 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach US$25.1 billion by 2034, registering a CAGR of 6.23% during the forecast period of 2026–2034.
Continuous protection and convenience with Active Packaging
Food packaging has evolved from a passive protective role to an active and intelligent system due to increasing consumer demand for safe and fresh food having longer shelf-life. Active packaging involves adding components to the package (or its headspace) that interact with the food or environment to improve preservation and quality. It goes beyond protection and helps maintain freshness by controlling oxygen, moisture, gases, and odours. Iron-based oxygen scavenging sachets are common sight in the packages of many emerging brands of bakery and traditional sweets, thereby replacing the need to add the synthetic antioxidants in the food products and preventing it from rancidity during the storage. Similarly, the usage of silica gel and desiccants prevent spoilage from excess humidity, thereby preventing the problems associated with lumping and sogginess of the products. Carbon dioxide (CO2) scavengers are active packaging systems that regulate carbon dioxide levels inside food packages.
In products like roasted coffee, trapped CO2 released after roasting can build pressure and cause package swelling or bursting, which is prevented by CO2 absorbers such as calcium oxide that convert CO2 into stable compounds. In other foods, CO2 control also helps slow microbial growth and preserve quality during storage. Ethylene absorbers are used in fruit packaging to delay ripening and extend shelf life. They remove ethylene gas using materials like potassium permanganate. This helps the rate of ripening during storage and transport. In addition to these, self-heating and self-cooling packaging systems are also emerging innovations. Self-heating packs use exothermic reactions (like quicklime with water) to warm ready-to-eat meals and beverages without external heating, while self-cooling packs use endothermic reactions to chill drinks instantly. These systems improve convenience, especially for military rations, outdoor use, and ready-to-eat foods, making packaging not only protective but also functionally active for consumption.
Smart food guarding with Intelligent Packaging
In daily life, we often rely on packaging without realising how much uncertainty exists behind it. For example, a packet of frozen nuggets or ice cream may look perfectly fine, but if it has been exposed to temperature fluctuations during transport, its quality can drop even before reaching your home. This is where time–temperature indicators (TTIs) become useful, they change colour if the product has been exposed to unsafe temperatures, silently telling whether the cold chain was maintained or broken. Similarly, when you open a pack of snacks or chips, it may sometimes taste stale even if the expiry date is far away. In advanced intelligent packaging, oxygen indicators can show if air has leaked into the pack, which is often the real reason behind loss of crispness. In meat or fish packaging, freshness indicators can detect gases released during spoilage and give a visible signal, helping avoid accidental consumption of unsafe food. Even something as simple as buying fruits or ready-to-eat salads can benefit from this technology. If microbial growth starts inside the package, smart indicators can detect metabolic changes and alert consumers before spoilage becomes visible. In this way, intelligent packaging acts like a silent observer throughout the journey of food from factory to fridge, ensuring that what looks fresh is actually safe to eat.
The synergy of bioplastics with antimicrobials
Food packaging is increasingly moving toward materials that are both sustainable and functional. In this context, amalgamation of antimicrobial agents with bioplastics offers an effective way to improve food safety while reducing the environmental impact. Bioplastics, derived from renewable sources like corn starch or protein, are biodegradable alternatives to conventional plastics. In some cases, materials like aminated chitosan also provide inherent antimicrobial activity. However, many bioplastics alone are not sufficient to fully prevent microbial spoilage. For instance, in packs of cut fruits or ready-to-eat salads, microbes from handling or moisture can still grow even in clean looking bio-based films. To address this, antimicrobial agents such as essential oils, organic acids, or bacteriocins are incorporated into bioplastic films, where they inhibit bacterial and fungal growth. For products like cheese, bakery items, and fresh meat, such active films help reduce mould formation and slow spoilage, thereby extending shelf life and improving safety.
Non-migratory bioactive polymers
Food packaging is increasingly evolving from a simple protective layer to a functional and health-supporting system. In this context, non-migratory bioactive polymers are advanced materials in which enzymes or bioactive agents are immobilised within the polymer matrix, so they do not migrate into the food but still perform their functional role at the surface or interface. A key advantage of these systems is that they provide safe biochemical transformations without direct inclusion into the food. For example, in dairy processing, crosslinked enzymes such as lactase or cholesterol reductase can be immobilised within packaging materials or membranes to obtain lactose-free or cholesterol-free/low-cholesterol milk. Since these enzymes are immobilised and non-migratory, they remain within the packaging structure, ensuring product safety while still enabling functional modification of food components.
In a country like India, where food spoilage after harvest, weak cold chain systems, and food adulteration are still major concerns, technologies such as RFID, active packaging, intelligent packaging, and antimicrobial packaging can make a real difference. These innovations can help track food more effectively, reduce wastage, improve storage and transportation, and build greater consumer trust in food quality and safety. At the same time, future research is likely to move toward biodegradable packaging solutions that are not only environmentally friendly but also capable of monitoring, protecting, and extending the shelf life of food. As a result, food packaging is no longer just about wrapping or preserving products. It is gradually becoming a smart, sustainable, and technology-driven system shaped by the combined efforts of food engineering, biotechnology, nanotechnology, digital tools, and consumer-focused innovation.Bottom of Form
(The author is an assistant professor at College of Dairy and Food Technology, Agriculture University, Jodhpur, and can be contacted at ftech.sahni@gmail.com)
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