Understanding packaging of crispy snacks

Tolen Tombung Moiragthem *

Food packaging, packaged foods are the terms we find and use in our daily lives when it comes to buying food from grocery and stores. We find lots and different types of packing materials like plastic, papers, woods or sometimes metals and glass.

Actually packaged foods are becoming a fancy thing these days, which is in fact a very good sign that people are cautious about hygiene and quality of food irrespective of the price. Now the biggest question is if actually all the packaged food hygienic and are good quality ones? So, proper knowledge or maybe at least the basics of food packaging should be known to every individual in this society.

Packaging has been defined as a socio-scientific discipline which operates in society to ensure delivery of goods to the ultimate consumer of those goods in the best condition intended for their use. The Packaging Institute International (PII) defines packaging as the enclosure of products, items or packages in a wrapped pouch, bag, box, cup, tray, can, tube, bottle or other container form to perform one or more of the following functions: containment, protection, preservation, communication, utility and performance.

If the device or container performs one or more of these functions, it is considered package. Other definitions of packaging include a co-ordinated system of preparing goods for transport, distribution, storage, retailing and end-use, a means of ensuring safe delivery to the ultimate consumer in sound condition at optimum cost, and a techno-commercial function aimed at optimizing the costs of delivery while maximizing sales.

Now, considering the common food products we often find in packaged forms are snacks, ready to drink beverages, ready to serve food etc. If we observe, the above mentioned foods are found in completely different packaging materials from one another.

Snacks, crispy snacks if we see these types of food products are mostly fried foods more precisely deep fried products. We always prefer eating these snacks whit the crisp feel in our mouth and don’t prefer broken and distorted ones, say potato chips; we always want that round and crisp chips rather than broken ones.

Now, to get that perfectly shaped chips in every byte and in every packet there should be a barrier to protect these snacks from spoiling parameters. The parameters which are going to spoil such foods are; Oxygen in the air, which is going to oxidise, another major parameter is light, which is going to cause rancidity.

Then of course there are certain other parameters like, humidity which is going to soften these food products, and then it may lead to fungal growth, bacterial growth etc. So, to maintain the quality of the food, there should be a barrier to prevent these parameters to reach the food, to do that we need a suitable packaging material or say a packet.

Amongst all the parameters the first one needed to be checked is light, so to prevent this aluminium foil is used, aluminium foil is a barrier of light. Now oxygen in the air is to be checked, so artificial environment are created using inert gases like nitrogen, carbon dioxide etc. which replaces the air when packaging, this also act as cushion to the food and prevent them from breaking. Then, to check the moisture content or we say humidity the container or the packet is made air tight. This way packaging is done in case of crispy snacks.

However, these snacks are not done yet, when sold in retailer shops one must be very tactful regardless of the good quality packaging. The packaging only prevents it does not protect the food completely from the parameters spoiling the food. These products are to be sold in cool and dry places, always away from harsh environment which may include bright sunlight, very humid places etc.

Even after such delicate process these products tend to spoil after certain time, so, date of manufacture, best before dates mentioned on the labels must be checked before consuming. Adverse effect to human health caused by consuming spoilt fat rich food may include cancer. These precautions must be checked not only by the consumer but also by the manufacturers.

It is a very noble trade to feeding the consumers with tasty food, along with those manufacturers must always consider the proper quality of the food and most importantly consumers’ health too. Some of the bad practises being followed maybe due to no proper knowledge or maybe due to the economy or some other limitations is the local producers, who produces ready to serve snacks is that they tend to pack their product in transparent polyethene packs with labels inside the pack along with the food materials, this should be avoided as those labels may contain harmful chemicals.

Moreover, the paper used for such labels are usually recycled ones and the ink used may also be harmful. The problems are not often seen, but they do exist. So, consumer and manufacturers must opt for quality food for better society and healthy society.