Summary/ Reader Response Draft #1
Jones’s (2022) article “Spray-On, Rinse-Off Food ‘Wrapper’ Can Cut Plastic Packaging” informs the public about the newly developed food coating created by researchers that has the potential to minimize food waste and prevent foodborne illness without the use of plastic. This new coating is nontoxic, biodegradable, and antimicrobial. Pullulan, which is its primary ingredient, is an edible fiber that is "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Additionally, the coating contains nisin, a bacterially created compound, as well as the naturally occurring antimicrobials citric acid, and thyme oil. All of these substances are considered to be safe for eating if given the appropriate amount. It is simple and effective to use and remove, simply spray the coating on, then run it under water to remove it. Jones explained that the purpose of it is to protect edible items from bacteria and other microorganisms, which may lead to spoilage, a major factor in food being thrown away. Moreover, some microorganisms are also the sources of illnesses, including listeriosis and Escherichia coli poisoning. However, this innovative Food ‘Wrapper’ will be difficult to implement since it is new and unknown to people, not sustainable as a replacement for plastics, and it is not confirmed to be totally safe by the FDA (Food Drug Administration).
Juma (2016) states that nowadays, before accepting a new innovation, people always try to focus on maintaining continuity, social order, and stability due to being pressured of today’s biggest policy challenges. Fear of a new innovation, they often respond emotionally to the product as it challenges their point of view on the world (Overly, 2016). It would be hard for consumers to purchase these sprayed on food while looking at them being displaced on a shelf next to each other (Roberts, 2017). Besides, the Food ‘Wrapper’ is not child friendly, they may consume the coating without rinsing it off from the food.
Would the packaging of these sprayed on food be plastic? It would be contradicting to the researchers’ goal of cutting down on the usage of plastic as there would be some kind of packaging that is required to wrap these sprayed on food. Distributing these sprayed on food would also be a major problem. Even though these food are sprayed on with the Food ‘Wrapper’, some of the food would be destroyed due to their soft textures while the distributing them. The ultimate solution would be something that could hold these soft textured food which is plastic. It would be unhygienic while transporting these food, as germs from human hands and dust or other particles in the air would contaminate the food (Roberts, 2017). Without the plastic packaging to keep the food together or to prevent spillage, it would be hard to transport the overseas sprayed on food. If the researches are mainly targeting individual pieces of produce, the need for the Food ‘Wrapper’ would be lesser due to most of the fruits or vegetables have their own natural protection (dora and Iacovidou, 2019).
Despite it being an innovative packing that has the potential to improve our physical environment and protect humans from foodborne illness, there is a high risk that this newly developed coating may threaten one’s health safety. Though the GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) substances are not harmful, do not cause cancer, and has been used for generations, there are no defined explanation on what is considered harmful. Hence, creating a generalised safety addressment of the substances under the statutory and regulatory provisions. Moreover, consuming large quantities of these substances could result in life threatening diseases or even death (Beyranevand, 2013).
However, it has the potential to effectively protect the holistic environment as the product encourages the reduction of plastic usage. Plastic packaging, also a form of disposable packaging which is causing waste problems in a accelerating rate (Schmid and Rhein, 2018), has a short lifespan as it is a single-use plastic that is often irresponsibly thrown away by consumers (Hahladakis and Iacovidou, 2018; Mutha et al., 2006). There is a total of 6 billion metric tons of plastic waste that has been discarded into our environment in the recent 50 to 60 years. As plastic packaging does not completely break down, it will eventually turn into microplastics that continue to pollute the environment and destroy aquatic life. In the process of degrading into microplastics, they emit greenhouses gases that can contribute to climate change and release toxic chemicals that can be catastrophic to the environment and deadly to humans. 3.8 percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the plastic lifestyle. (Giddings, 2021) This is why plastic packaging is detrimental to the environment and with the Food ‘Wrapper’ which is a ‘smart’ and ‘green’ food packaging that would help to replace plastic packaging, wrapping the food as well as being easily discarded without polluting the environment or causing damage to the humans and wildlife (Rutgers, 2022).
In conclusion, introducing the ‘Food Wrapper’ to the public is difficult as people react to innovations in an emotional way, doubting its purpose due to its downsides of the functions and the safety of consuming these sprayed on food. Nonetheless, it does serves its purpose of replacing and reducing the plastic packaging.
Reference List:
Jones, S. (2022) Spray-On, Rinse-Off Food ‘Wrapper’ Can Cut Plastic Packaging Scientific American https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/spray-on-rinse-off-food-lsquo-wrapper-rsquo-can-cut-plastic-packaging/
Giddings, D. (2021, March 29). The effects of single-use plastic on the environment. Nature Conservancy Canada https://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/blog/the-effects-of-single-use-plastic.html#.YzWWRnYza5c
Rutgers, P. (2022, June 21) Spray-On coating could replace plastic wrap Futurity
Schmid, M. & Rhein, S. (2018). Consumers’ awareness of plastic packaging: More than just environmental concerns Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 162
Comments
Post a Comment