13 - Innovations and future trends in product development and packaging technologies

Abstract

Innovations in food product development and packaging technologies will satisfy consumers' demand for safe and nutritious food with minimal deleterious effects of food packaging on environment. This driving thrust posed a challenge to replace the traditional methods of food preservation and led to the emergence of novel nonthermal technologies. These nonthermal technologies maintain the nutrition, wholesomeness, and safety of foods by employing high hydrostatic pressure (high pressure processing), electrical methods such as pulse electric field and pulse light, cold plasma technology, and ohmic heating. All these nonthermal technologies can maintain quality of packaged food by by destroying/inactivating microorganisms and making food microbiologically safe. These nonthermal technologies can be used alone or in combination for various tailored applications like maintaining product quality, manufacturing food products, extension of shelflife, prepackaging of foods, inactivating microorganisms, and eliminating risks of contamination. The same consumer desire for safe, nutritious, delicious food; convenience; and less processed food has also led to innovations in packaging technologies. Recent packaging material and technologies involve active packaging, nanotechnology innovations, green packaging, biopolymers, intelligent or smart packaging, gas indicators, microwave doneness indicators, Radiofrequency Identification (RFID), and biosensor. These innovative packaging technologies in synergy with innovations in food product development being less tedious will provide new numerous innovative opportunities for food product development and packaging. This chapter will provide detailed knowledge of innovations in product development as well as packaging technologies and their potential to transform food industry.