Film-Based Packaging for Food Safety and Preservation: Issues and Perspectives

Food packaging is the most essential and obligatory discipline in food processing and preservation. Food packaging offers the safe and secure transportation of food contents from the manufacturing to the consumer end. Food packaging has seen drastic advancements over time and offers intelligent and interactive packaging. The reduction in non-biodegradable packaging materials and emphasis on global environmental concerns have made food packaging a centre of attention. Healthy and safe foods have become the prime aim of food research due to health consciousness. Substituting plastic packaging materials with biodegradable material is the primary goal of food packaging research. Using plant and animal-based materials to develop food packaging films is gaining much attention daily. Edible films are replacing the primary food packaging materials with noticeable results. Researchers are currently working to replace petroleum-based packaging in the food industry completely. Various additives are also amalgamated with edible films to enhance their packaging capabilities. In this chapter, we will discuss the research progress of edible packaging, its applicability, and its safety perspective.