Breakthrough in Food Protection

The article I chose came from news target.com and was written by Mike Adams. The article is called “Breakthrough Food Technology Process Protects Food With Thin Film Made From Natural Ingredients; Replaces Film Wrapper”. The article speaks about a new food technology what has been engineered to virtually replace plastic wrap. As we know, to maintain food fresh and edible we must prevent it from harmful bacteria and pathogens and so we utilize plastic wrap to achieve this. The downside of utilizing plastic wrap is the fact that plastic wrap is manufactured from petroleum products, a harmful byproduct. So a new technology has been developed by the Food Science and Technology department at Oregon State University. This revolutionary technology is an edible thin film. This food protective fiber or film, which looks a lot like plastic wrap, combines two key ingredients -- chitosan, a fiber derived from shellfish, and lysozyme, which is essentially egg white protein. By combining these two key ingredients in a process that is now being patented, researchers were able to make a thin film food wrap that can be used to cover sandwiches, fruits, veggies or even coat foods by dipping the foods in a liquid film. With this new technology you can literally you could take fresh blueberries and dip them in a liquid soup made from chitosan and lysozyme, and the blueberries would be coated with a thin plastic wrap, protecting it against microbial infection as well as preserving more of its nutrient content. When the consumer is ready to eat the blueberry, they can just pop both the blueberry and the thin film in their mouth and safely eat it because the thin film is perfectly edible. The only side effect would be that the film would add to the consumers diet a little fiber and protein. Both of these ingredients are natural anti-microbial compounds, meaning they resist infection from microbes, molds, and fungi. That would potentially enhance the shelf life of foods, which could either serve to deliver more nutritious foods to consumers, or reduce the cost of such foods thanks to reduced spoilage. This thin-film coating can be enhanced with additional vitamins and mineralssuch as calcium or vitamin E to boost the nutritional value of the food being protected. This is a fiber that has been provided by “Mother Nature” and works perfectly to provide unparallel protection for nearly any food product.

Reflection:
I think that Oregon State University is ahead of the game. Their ingenuity is outstanding. I mean how many times have you packaged fruit or vegetables in plastic wrap and been disappointed with the fruit or vegetable you have packaged has been tarnished by bacteria and microbes. I am certain that most all of us have been there. Our plastic wrapping has failed to protect your food and there goes more or your hard earned money goes down the drain. Thanks to this new technology we can safely package our fruits and vegetables and not have to worry about their potentially harmful make ups. This thin film is so revolutionary that you can literally take out your fruit from the refrigerator and pop the fruit right in your mouth film and all. I am certain that this technology will continue to thrive and provide with more safe ways for us to package and protect not only our food products but also our lives.