Food Applications of Active and Intelligent Packaging: Legal Issues and Safety Concerns

Unlike traditional packaging, which must be totally inert, active packaging is designed to interact with the contents and/or the surrounding environment. Active packaging systems are successfully used to increase the shelf life of processed foods and can be categorized into adsorbing and releasing systems. Intelligent packaging is characterized by its ability to monitor the condition of packaged food or the environment by providing information about different factors during transportation and storage including time-temperature indicators, gas detectors, and freshness and/or ripening indicators. At the same time, advances in nanotechnology and the improvement of nanomaterials will enable the development of better and new active and intelligent packaging. Until 2004 in Europe there was a legislative lack for these kinds of packaging decreasing their penetration in the EU market. To face the problem Regulation 1935/2004/EC and more specifically Regulation 450/2009/EC set new legal basis for their correct use, safety and marketing.