Food Tasting Bad?..May Be It Is The Packaging

Hi friends. I am back with more material on masterbatches, the coloring and special function imparting agents in plastics. Thanks for the support and comments, they are really justifying my hard work, which truthfully I thought had gone down the drain.

In my last two posts I talked about the types of masterbatches and the points to consider while manufacturing them. Now I will discuss the role of colorants and additives in food & beverage packaging.

Plastic packaging is boon for food and beverage industry. Not only does it keep the contents fresh for long but also attractive packaging makes them irresistible for the consumers. But is the packaging really beneficial to the consumers? No point arguing that the plastic packaged content is usable for long (let’s not go to the pros and cons of that) but plastic, especially colored plastic does something to the food and all, doesn’t it?

Plastic packaging can alter the taste and odor. More often than not it is subtle, but sometimes the change can be major and irritating. Take a neutral product like bottled water; it is really susceptible to organoleptic influences.

Given the resources that go in creating compelling products, the last thing manufacturer need is to have a plastic package skew the taste and odor of their offerings.

From the knowledge gleaned from interaction with RPindustries functionaries (the guys I approached to research for my doomed school magazine article) I can safely say that understanding the interaction between resins, colorants, and functional additives and product taste and odor is essential to being able to limit the organoleptic interaction between the plastic package and its contents. It is especially necessary for masterbatch suppliers and others involved in compound formulation.

The best move toward is to choose an “organoleptic-friendly” colorant and avoid the use of functional additives. Moreover colorants require careful selection because of their certain chemical composition which might be more problematic than others when it comes to taste and odor. Many masterbatch manufacturers avoid or at the very least put strict limits on compounds that contain either chlorine or sulfur due to their potential to cause sensory issues.

Several other factors can affect the organoleptic honesty of a package such as the choice of carrier resins used in masterbatches. These should be neat resins that are free of low-molecular-weight components.

Amazing, isn’t it! Just a little (to be frank hell lot of it!) study and we know why our plastic packaged food tastes bad. Now it is up to the plastic manufacturers and the masterbatch suppliers to ensure that plastic packaging just alter the looks of a product not its taste.

Color Masterbatches - The Color in Plastics

Hi all. MY name is Rahul Kumar. I am an Indian student studying in 12^th slandered in a New Delhi based school. I am also the editor of our school magazine. Previous month I was writing for the article based on plastic manufacturing company. The focus of the article was on the environmental impact of the plastic.

During research for that article I got intrigued by the coloration procedure of the plastic. I then determined to give a new dimension to my article, about the coloration process and technologies concerned. It made sense because harmful or not we can’t wish away the plastic from our lives, it is so damn helpful, but we can make ourselves conscious of the basics of manufacturing process so as to make use of the plastics more cautiously.

With this point in mind I decided to come close to my principal with request to visit a manufacturer of international repute which can give me an idea of best practices in the industry. We decided upon visiting RPindustries www.rpindustries.net the manufacturer and exporter of the additive masterbatches, the basic component to color raw polymer cost-effectively during the plastics manufacturing process for all kinds of polymers.

Due to space crunch we could not squeeze the article in our magazine, but it would have been a terrible waste not to do anything with the research. Therefore through this series of postings I would like to make my work see the light of the day, and may be help some of you curious souls understand the plastic especially colored one.

Let’s start with description of masterbatch and its types.

Masterbatches are used to insert colors and impart special properties to plastic products. Cost of masterbatch is hardly 1-2%in final plastic product but its quality is very important for durability and functional properties of the product. A Masterbatch contains polymers, additives and colorants specifically formulated together to provide either a general or specific function.

Master batch products are separated into two major types.

• The pigment master batch to color the plastic.
• The functional additive master batches make the plastic capable of certain performances like making them heat resistant, weather resistant etc. Some of the functional master batches are UV Masterbatch, antifog agents, antiblock agents, antistatic agents, etc.

Interesting? Well read my next postings for more information on masterbatches, coloration process.