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Could Dissolvable Cranberry Film Replace Plastic Packaging Someday?

modernfarmer.com

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Re: Could Dissolvable Cranberry Film Replace Plastic Packaging Someday?

#2
Plastic packaging protects food from moisture and dirt. If you make the packaging out of a water-soluble material and then eat it, surely that's almost completely useless? Like, now you need some kind of additional outer wrapper to stop your edible packaging from getting contaminated.

The article mentions muffin liners as an alternative use case, but those are usually made of thin paper and are already compostable.

Re: Could Dissolvable Cranberry Film Replace Plastic Packaging Someday?

#3
post #2

Plastic packaging protects food from moisture and dirt. If you make the packaging out of a water-soluble material and then eat it, surely that's almost completely useless? Like, now you need some kind of additional outer wrapper to stop your edible packaging from getting contaminated. The article mentions muffin liners as an alternative use case, but those are usually made of thin paper and are already compostable.

Edible packaging would also be biodegradable and a big plus, agreed that trying to eat it would pretty much defeat the purpose.

Could make some interesting food items with an edible film though.

Re: Could Dissolvable Cranberry Film Replace Plastic Packaging Someday?

#4
post #2

Plastic packaging protects food from moisture and dirt. If you make the packaging out of a water-soluble material and then eat it, surely that's almost completely useless? Like, now you need some kind of additional outer wrapper to stop your edible packaging from getting contaminated. The article mentions muffin liners as an alternative use case, but those are usually made of thin paper and are already compostable.

I think the idea is that it becomes like fruit and vegetables. You purchase them unwrapped, wash them, and eat them. This would have implications on the supply chain of course to try and keep these items clean.

It could also replace individually wrapped items, such as in a box of cereal bars the individual bars wouldn't need plastic wrap.

Re: Could Dissolvable Cranberry Film Replace Plastic Packaging Someday?

#5
This is nice, but we should avoid strictly focusing on the environmentally-specific properties of the product, but rather on whether the manufacturing process is scalable and cheap enough, and whether the product's other properties, like strength and food safety are worth the trade-off. Especially when starting the article with "But first, the industry needs to get on board."

It's like that solar road idea: 1000x more expensive, 100x more complex, and requires constant maintenance.

Re: Could Dissolvable Cranberry Film Replace Plastic Packaging Someday?

#8
post #4
post #2

Plastic packaging protects food from moisture and dirt. If you make the packaging out of a water-soluble material and then eat it, surely that's almost completely useless? Like, now you need some kind of additional outer wrapper to stop your edible packaging from getting contaminated. The article mentions muffin liners as an alternative use case, but those are usually made of thin paper and are already compostable.

I think the idea is that it becomes like fruit and vegetables. You purchase them unwrapped, wash them, and eat them. This would have implications on the supply chain of course to try and keep these items clean. It could also replace individually wrapped items, such as in a box of cereal bars the individual bars wouldn't need plastic wrap.

From the article: “The cranberry film can work as a replacement for film plastic, protecting fruits and vegetables with delicate skins, such as English cucumbers.”

Re: Could Dissolvable Cranberry Film Replace Plastic Packaging Someday?

#10
post #2

Plastic packaging protects food from moisture and dirt. If you make the packaging out of a water-soluble material and then eat it, surely that's almost completely useless? Like, now you need some kind of additional outer wrapper to stop your edible packaging from getting contaminated. The article mentions muffin liners as an alternative use case, but those are usually made of thin paper and are already compostable.

Edible packaging would also be biodegradable and a big plus, agreed that trying to eat it would pretty much defeat the purpose. Could make some interesting food items with an edible film though.

Edible doesn't make sense, because then we need a removeable layer around it to protect the edible part.
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