Greening food preservation feeds the environment

As consumers demand less preservatives in packaged food, the environment also needs less plastic waste. Cornell scientists are developing active packaging materials using a biologically-derived polmer that allows salad dressings, marinades, and beverages to last longer in the fridge.

The journal will publish the new Cornell research in June Food Packaging and Shelf Live.

Ian Kay, a doctoral student studying food science, stated that “active packaging allows us to extend shelf life despite consumer requests for cleaner labels.” “But it’s tricky. Foods and beverages can have a complex and varied composition. We need to be able to understand the chemistry of food and the active packaging in order to determine which system is best for each food.

Joshua Herskovitz, Ph.D. studied in the lab of Julie Goddard, Professor of Food Science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He grafted corn-derived polylactic acids polymers with the antioxidant, nitrilotriacetic, to use them in food packaging. Kay followed up on Herskovitz’s work and determined the material’s “interfacial Ka,” which tells how the food in the packaging can be preserved from spoiling.

The antioxidant is bound to the polylactic Acid so the preservative can interact and not migrate into the food.

Goddard stated that you can get shelf-life benefits of preservatives without actually consuming them. This allows for cleaner label foods which consumers are really seeking these days.

Goddard stated that active packaging technology using bioderived or biodegradable materials such as polylactic acid can be used to reduce two of the largest contributors to municipal solid refuse.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States produced 68.13 millions tons of food waste in 2018 and 35.68million tons of plastic waste in 2018. The plastic and food mixture made up 42% of all landfilled municipal waste. This contributed significantly to methane, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.

Goddard said, “As an food scientist, I am excited about new ways of reducing food and packaging waste.” “While I don’t oppose all preservatives, it is important to remember that things you use in the kitchen such as heat, salt, or lemon juice are important ingredients for food preservation.

Goddard said, “So, if we take preservatives off of our food at the same time we need to think about how the environment will react if food spoils quicker.” “We can extend shelf life and move closer to a circular economy by using greener active packaging techniques.”

Goddard is a Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability faculty Fellow. She said this is a chance to demonstrate how this new preservation technique can work and to address the wider environmental picture of reducing landfill waste. She stated that she wants to reduce food waste and bring bioderived materials along to do so.