poppadoms
Non-plastic packaging materials
Non-plastic packaging materials include paper, card, metal and glass.
Advantages, disadvantages and uses of different types of materials.
Green packaging
Green packaging causes less damage to the environment than other forms of packaging - it is 'environmentally friendly'. There are three types of green packaging:
Reusable packaging, such as glass bottles, which can itself be cleaned and re-used to store the same food or something else.
Recyclable packaging, which is made of materials that can be used again, usually after processing, for packaging or some another purpose. Recyclable packaging materials include glass, metal, card and paper.
Biodegradable packaging, which will easily breakdown and disappear into the soil or the atmosphere, without causing damage.
Packaging that can be recycled should carry standard symbols that tell people what the product is made from and how it can be recycled. The key symbols are outlined in the table below:
Symbols used on recyclable packaging
Please note the green dot does not indicate that the packaging is recyclable. It only denotes that the packaging manufacturer has financially contributed to the cost of recovering and recycling packaging in European countries other than the UK.
Labelling
The law requires certain information to be given on all pre-packed foods to ensure that the consumer is protected and informed. The guidelines are laid down by the EU.
These are the items on the label that are required by law.
manufacturer's name and contact details
name of the product
description of the product
weight (NB - some foods are exempt, for example bread)
ingredients (listed in descending order of weight)
cooking/heating instructions
storage instructions
best-before date
the process used for manufacture
The following items are not legal requirements, but are nevertheless good practice and often included on packaging:
illustration of product
price
nutritional values of the product
customer guarantee
the batch-code and bar-code numbers
opening instructions
Traffic light labelling
You're standing in a supermarket aisle looking at two similar products, trying to decide which to choose. You want to make the healthier choice but, as usual, you're in a hurry. Well, help is at hand.
A growing number of supermarkets and food manufacturers are using traffic light colours on the labels of some products to help you make your choice.
If we want to eat a healthy diet, one of the key things we should be doing is trying to cut down on fat (especially saturated fat), salt and added sugars.
Food products with traffic light labels on the front of the pack show you at-a-glance if the food you are thinking about buying has high, medium or low amounts of fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt, helping you get a better balance.
In addition to traffic light colours you will also see the number of grams of fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt in what the manufacturer or retailer suggests as a 'serving' of the food.
So, if you see a red light on the front of the pack, you know the food is high in something we should be trying to cut down on. It's fine to have the food occasionally, or as a treat, but try to keep an eye on how often you choose these foods, or try eating them in smaller amounts.
If you see amber, you know the food isn't high or low in the nutrient, so this is an OK choice most of the time, but you might want to go for green for that nutrient some of the time.
Green means the food is low in that nutrient. The more green lights, the healthier the choice.
Many of the foods with traffic light colours that you see in the shops will have a mixture of red, amber and greens. So, when you're choosing between similar products, try to go for more greens and ambers, and fewer reds, if you want to make the healthier choice.
The traffic light colours will make it easier for you to compare products at-a-glance. The label also tells you how much of each nutrient is in a portion, so if two labels have similar colours you can compare these figures, and choose the one that is lower to make a healthier choice.
Food Preservation
Because food is so important to survival, food preservation is one of the oldest technologies used by human beings. Here are a few ways of preserving food:
Refrigeration and freezing
Canning
Irradiation
Dehydration
Freeze-drying
Salting
Pickling
Pasteurizing
Fermentation
Carbonation
Cheese-making
Chemical preservation
The basic idea behind all forms of food preservation is either:
To slow down the activity of disease-causing bacteria
To kill the bacteria altogether
In certain cases, a preservation technique may also destroy enzymes naturally found in a food that cause it to spoil or discolor quickly. An enzyme is a special protein that acts as a catalyst for a chemical reaction, and enzymes are fairly fragile. By increasing the temperature of food to about 150 degrees Fahrenheit (66 degrees Celsius), enzymes are destroyed.
A food that is sterile contains no bacteria. Unless sterilized and sealed, all food contains bacteria. For example, bacteria naturally living in milk will spoil the milk in two or three hours if the milk is left out on the kitchen counter at room temperature. By putting the milk in the refrigerator you don't eliminate the bacteria already there, but you do slow down the bacteria enough that the milk will stay fresh for a week or two.
by
test1234567890 (student)
