Foodstuffs, particularly perishable ones such as meat, are frequently discarded once the best-before date has been reached, despite the possibility of their continued suitability for human consumption. The implementation of intelligent packaging has the potential to contribute to a reduction in food wastage by enabling the monitoring of meat freshness during storage time independently of the best-before date. The process of meat spoilage is associated with the formation of specific degradation products, some of which can be potentially utilized as spoilage indicators in intelligent packaging. The aim of the review is to identify degradation products whose concentration correlates with meat shelf life and to evaluate their potential use as spoilage indicators in intelligent packaging. To this end, a comprehensive literature research was conducted to identify the factors influencing meat spoilage and the eight key degradation products (carboxylic acids, biogenic amines, total volatile basic nitrogen, aldehydes, alcohols, ketones, sulfur compounds, and esters) associated with this process. These degradation products were analyzed for their correlation with meat shelf life at different temperatures, atmospheres, and meat types and for their applicability in intelligent packaging. The review provides an overview of these degradation products, comparing their potential to indicate spoilage across different meat types and storage conditions. The findings suggest that while no single degradation product universally indicates spoilage across all meat types and conditions, compounds like carboxylic acids, biogenic amines, and volatile basic nitrogen warrant further investigation. The review elucidates the intricacies inherent in identifying a singular spoilage indicator but underscores the potential of combining specific degradation products to expand the scope of applications in intelligent packaging. Further research (e.g., storage tests in which the concentrations of these substances are specifically examined or research on which indicator substance responds to these degradation products) is recommended to explore these combinations with a view to broadening their applicability.

Inadequate food handling throughout the food supply chain can result in food loss and waste, leading to significant environmental, economic and social impacts. Identifying the causes of food loss and waste across the food supply chain, including the role of packaging, is critical for developing reduction and prevention strategies. This review examines 54 scientific studies to identify packaging-related causes of food loss and waste, evaluate whether and how packaging contributes to or mitigates these issues, and propose measures to address them. The findings highlight the need for standardized terminology and methodologies to improve comparability among studies. Key packaging-related issues identified include difficulty emptying, damage and oversized packaging, which could be addressed through improved packaging design and machinery, customized packaging sizes, and consumer education. The packaging design must be adapted to address these key issues and simultaneously consider geographical areas, specific food products and types of packaging. Further research is needed to explore these connections more comprehensively and improve data comparability across methodologies and nomenclature.

As food typically accounts for substantially higher resource use and potential environmental impacts than its packaging, packaging-related food wastage must be considered in environmental assessments of food packaging. However, this is not currently performed as standard in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This article proposes a conceptual framework as an approach to systematically integrating packaging functionality into LCA by incorporating packaging-related food wastage depending on shelf-life and due to technical emptiability. Based on literature data, a segmented non-linear regression is proposed to estimate shelf-life-dependent food wastage at retail level. Two exponential models provide a consistently decreasing relationship between shelf-life and food wastage, with S = 0.064 for products with ≤30 days shelf-life and S = 0.036 for >30 days shelf-life. These values indicate a satisfactory internal fit within both shelf-life segments. In addition, established experimental procedures for quantifying packaging emptiability are integrated to capture further packaging-related food wastage. The approach yields a pragmatic estimation of packaging-related food wastage that can be operationalized in packaging LCAs. Rather than predicting exact amounts of food wastage, the framework enables a more holistic, function-oriented assessment of food packaging by making environmental trade-offs between packaging design, shelf-life effects and emptiability transparent for screening-level LCA.

Intelligent packaging offers promise for reducing food waste, with smart indicators letting consumers know whether their fridge contents are still safe to eat. When looking in the fridge recently, your correspondent noticed a package of minced meat sitting at the back of one of the shelves, totally forgotten. A check of the best-before date revealed […]