Environmental impacts of plastic packaging of food products

ABSTRACT Insect pests may make food products and by-products unfit for human consumption. This study reports the occurrence of Lasioderma serricorne (Coleoptera: Anobiidae) in packaged seeds of black Sesamum indicum. An intact plastic pot of S. indicum seeds was purchased by a consumer in a supermarket in Divinópolis, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, in April 2014 and was kept at his home for 3 months. Two hundred adults of this insect (196 dead and 4 alive) were counted in the pot with the seeds, besides three live larvae. This insect fed on S. indicum seeds, making them unfit for consumption. L. serricorne feed on and reproduce in S. indicum seeds stored in plastic packaging.

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Application of the Dietary Environmental Index to Model More Sustainable Versions of Food Intake Patterns Reported in the 2007–2008 NHANES (OR20-01-19)

Current Developments in Nutrition ◽

10.1093/cdn/nzz047.or20-01-19 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

Author(s):

Naglaa El-Abbadi ◽

Timothy Griffin ◽

Christian Peters ◽

Miriam Nelson ◽

Paul Jacques

Keyword(s):

Food Intake ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Food Products ◽

The United States ◽

Food Group ◽

Environmental Harm ◽

Environmental Index ◽

Nutrient Density ◽

Food Intake Patterns

Abstract Objectives Constructing nutritionally replete as well as environmentally benign dietary patterns is at the core of diet sustainability efforts, yet these must also consider factors of personal preference and accessibility to be widely acceptable. This study aimed to model how observed food selection may be modified to optimize nutritional quality while mitigating environmental harm, using comparable food substitutions. Methods Day 1 dietary intake reported by adult participants in the 2007–2008 NHANES was scored using the Dietary Environmental Index (DEX), a tool to assess life cycle environmental impacts standardized by diet quality, calculated as the ratio of a Nutrient Density Score (NDS) to Environmental Impact Score (EIS) for 7500 food products consumed in the United States. Low-scoring food products, based on their higher environmental impact and lower nutrient density, were directly substituted by a high-DEX alternative food from within the same What We Eat In America food category. Resultant changes to overall food group and nutrient levels were assessed. Results Food group composition of the DEX-modeled daily food intake patterns shifted towards lower quantities of red meat, and higher quantities of poultry, legumes, whole grains, and vegetables. Levels of beneficial nutrients to encourage, such as fiber and select vitamins and minerals, increased by 15–81% in the DEX-models, while protein levels stayed about the same. Nutrients to limit, including saturated fat, sodium, and added sugar, decreased by 12–16%. Individual direct environmental impacts related to climate change, land use, water depletion, and marine eutrophication improved by 11–17% in the DEX-models. Conclusions Findings demonstrate the potential nutritional as well as environmental benefits of relatively simple food substitutions within an existing diet pattern, in a manner aimed to be palatable to the individual. Funding Sources The National Institute of Food and Agriculture, US Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service.

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Supply chain integrated LCA approach to assess environmental impacts of food production in Finland

Agricultural and Food Science ◽

10.23986/afsci.5967 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 18 (3-4) ◽

pp. 460-476 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

K. USVA ◽

M. SAARINEN ◽

J-M. KATAJAJUURI

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Hot Spots ◽

Food Production ◽

Food Products ◽

Environmental Data ◽

Greenhouse Cucumber ◽

Food Lca ◽

Reported Data

A process was started in the late 1990s to produce comprehensive environmental data on particular aspects of Finnish food production with the aim of analyzing the environmental impacts (at least climate change, acidification and eutrophication and some other impacts) of products and locating hot spots in production chains. A supply chain integrated life cycle assessment was carried out on fodder barley, hard cheese, oat flakes, potato flour, cream cheese potato gratin, beer, honey-marinated/sliced broiler fillet and greenhouse cucumber. Methodological improvements in assessing environmental impacts of food products were evaluated in relation to ISO14040 and 14044 standards. Methods improved, especially regarding quality of cultivation data and previously reported data from the literature, impact assessment and calculations for assessment of leaching from agriculture. As a generic conclusion on the share of contributions of the various phases of production chains to environmental impact: agriculture was the most important phase, especially in terms of eutrophication potential. Work in food LCA methodology has provided a sound base for future development in assessing environmental impacts of food products. In the future providing more and more environmental information on products for customers and consumers is setting new challenges for research.;

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A mixed method approach examining the environmental impacts of plant-based food products and the use of eco-labels in the UK

Proceedings of The Nutrition Society ◽

10.1017/s0029665121003311 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 80 (OCE5) ◽

Author(s):

M. Hackett ◽

A. Lamkin ◽

C. Pocklington ◽

J.B. Moore

Keyword(s):

Environmental Impacts ◽

Mixed Method ◽

Food Products ◽

Mixed Method Approach ◽

The Uk ◽

Method Approach

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Porovnání environmentálních dopadů různých typů jogurtových kelímků

Entecho ◽

10.35933/entecho.2020.02 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 6-9

Author(s):

Nikola Kráľová ◽

Markéta Šerešová ◽

Vladimír Kočí

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Resource Use ◽

Impact Category ◽

Plastic Packaging ◽

Freshwater Ecotoxicity ◽

Different Types ◽

The Impact ◽

Glass Packaging

Cílem práce bylo posoudit environmentální dopady různých typů zvolených jogurtových kelímků vyrobených z různých materiálů: z plastu, papíru, skla či z kompozitního materiálu. Environmentální dopady byly vyhodnoceny metodou posuzování životního cyklu (z angl. life cycle assessment, LCA). Výsledky práce ukazují, že skleněné a kompozitní obaly jsou horší než obaly plastové, s výjimkou kategorie dopadu Spotřeba fosilních surovin a humánní toxicita. Jako nejlepší vychází plastový obal s K3 dekorací (papír), který ve všech hodnocených kategoriích dopadu vykazuje nejlepší výsledky. V kategorii dopadu Klimatické změny se nejhůř umístil kompozitní obal a obal skleněný. Nejvíce ovlivněnou kategorií je Sladkovodní ekotoxicita, nejvyšší dopady v rámci této kategorie vykazuje obal skleněný a následně kompozitní. V rámci kategorie dopadu Ionizující záření má největší dopad skleněný obal následovaný obalem kompozitním. Na základě výsledků výzkumu bylo zjištěno, že hlavní příčinou dopadů plastových kelímků na životní prostředí je výroba PP granulátu, u skleněných obalů je to výroba samotného skla a v případě kompozitních obalů výroba kompozitního obalu. Abstract (en) The aim of the work was to assess the environmental impacts of different types of selected yoghurt cups made of different materials: plastic, paper, glass or composite material. Environmental impacts were assessed using the life cycle assessment (LCA) method. The results of the work show that glass and composite packaging is worse than plastic packaging except for the impact category Resource use (mineral and metals) and Human toxicity. The best packaging appears to be plastic packaging with K3 decoration (paper), which has the smallest impacts in all evaluated impact categories. In the impact category Climate change, composite packaging and glass packaging have the greatest impact. The most affected category is Freshwater ecotoxicity. The highest impacts within this category are shown by glass packaging and subsequently composite packaging. In the impact category Ionizing radiation, the greatest impact has a glass packaging, then a composite packaging. Based on the results, it was determined that the main cause of the impacts of plastic cups is the production of PP granulate. In the case of glass packaging, it is the production of the glass itself, and in the case of composite packaging, the production of the composite packaging.

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To wrap or to not wrap cucumbers?

10.31224/osf.io/dyx9b ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Chandrima Shrivastava ◽

Eleonora Crenna ◽

Seraina Schudel ◽

Kanaha Shoji ◽

Daniel Onwude ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Impact ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Fruits And Vegetables ◽

Waste Reduction ◽

Environmental Benefit ◽

Life Cycle Assessment Study ◽

Protective Function ◽

Plastic Packaging ◽

Assessment Study ◽

Negative Environmental Impact

In light of increasing public pressure, retailers strive to remove plastic packaging as much as possible from fresh fruits and vegetables to reduce the environmental impacts along their supply chains. Plastic packaging, however, also has an important protective function, similar to the fruit's peel. For cucumbers transported from Spain and sold in Switzerland, our investigations in the form of a life cycle assessment study showed that the plastic wrapping has a rather low environmental impact (only about 1%) in comparison to the total environmental impacts of the fruit from grower to grocer. Hence, each cucumber that has to be thrown away has the equivalent environmental impact of 93 plastic cucumber wraps. We found that plastic wrapping protects the environment more by saving more cucumbers from spoilage than it harms the environment by the additional use of plastic. If, by using the plastic wrap, we reduce cucumber losses at retail even by only 1.1%, its use has already a net environmental benefit. Currently, in the cucumber import supply chain from Spain to Switzerland, the use of plastic wrapping lowers the cucumber losses at retail by an estimated 4.8%; therefore, it makes sense to use it from an environmental perspective. The environmental benefit of food waste reduction due to plastic wrapping the cucumbers was found to be 4.9 times higher than the negative environmental impact due to the packaging itself. Alternative strategies to preserve fresh cucumbers without using plastic wrapping will have to compete with this challenging limit.

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Consumer-led eco-development of food products: a case study to propose a framework

British Food Journal ◽

10.1108/bfj-11-2020-1050 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Chloé Thomas ◽

Isabelle Maître ◽

Ronan Symoneaux

Keyword(s):

Environmental Impacts ◽

Single Case ◽

Innovation Management ◽

Food Product ◽

Food Products ◽

Content Type ◽

Agile Methodology ◽

Key Characteristics ◽

Food Product Development

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose an agile methodology for the development of food products that has two key characteristics: (1) consumers are included as co-creators and (2) the assessment of environmental impacts plays a central role.Design/methodology/approachIn collaboration with a French small-to-mid-size enterprise, a research-intervention approach was used to test the agile methodology designed, which features three iterative runs of food product development. In each run, prototypes were presented and modified with consumers during focus groups. Life cycle analysis assessed the relative environmental impacts of the prototypes. The research data from consumers were mainly qualitative.FindingsThe main result of this work is the implementation of a methodology to develop new food products in an efficient way by integrating consumers' insights and environmental concerns simultaneously. The method was successful in integrating consumers as co-creators and in drawing attention to the potential environmental effects of different prototypes for the decision-making process.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is based on a single case study. Thus, generalisation to other companies is limited. The authors invite further research focussed on different types of companies. The methodology and the tools could be modified to suit a variety of contexts.Originality/valueThis work addresses the need for guidelines to integrate consumers and environmental considerations into the food development process by testing an agile methodology with a company. It contributes to the scope of sustainable and consumer-oriented food innovation management.

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