Hui Xiang Reader Response Summary 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 that has the potential to reduce food wastage and prevent foodborne illness without the use of plastic. This new coating is nontoxic, biodegradable and has antimicrobial properties. 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. What's more, 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 not only lead to spoilage, a major factor in food being thrown away, but also cause illnesses. Food packaging is one of the greatest contributors to plastic pollution. This harms our environment as plastics are non-biodegradable and if left untouched, will remain. The use of plastic as a material for packaging should be reduced and replaced for the new microbial coating as it is safe, biodegradable —reducing its carbon footprints and is as convenient to use.

All food is subjectable to food spoilage. Microorganisms and fungi are the main culprits that contribute to contamination which leads to food spoilage (Nasery et al., 2015). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “almost 1 in 10 people in the world” who eat contaminated food, fall ill and cause an estimated 420,000 deaths worldwide annually (WHO, 2022). The new microbial coating contains natural antimicrobial agents such as citric acid, thyme oil and a bacterially derived compound, nisin. This cocktail showcased the greatest antimicrobial activity against the two common bacterias that cause foodborne illness, Escherichia coli and Listeria innocua (Aytac et al., 2020). This coating is tested to prolong shelf life under ambient conditions for up to 7 days. (Chang et al., 2022)

   

Plastics have always been an all time favorite for food packaging. It is reported that the world is set to triple its plastic waste produced by the year 2060, according to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, n.d). The reason as to why the usage of plastics is so damaging to the environment is mainly due to two reasons, the way it is produced and its non biodegradable properties. From production to the disposal of plastics, plastics bring harm to the environment at every stage. Firstly, plastic is produced with the use of fossil fuels which produces very toxic fumes at the cost of our precious, limited supply of fossil fuels. Next, due to its construction of polymers, it is difficult for enzymes to break them down, taking hundreds of years to start breaking down(Wahid, 2022). To accelerate this process, plastic is being subjected to combustion instead for disposal and once again, this process produces very toxic and harmful gasses. 

     

The new coating uses a system named focused rotary jet spinning(FRJS), which generates anti microbial-laced fibers to spray on the food (Chang et al., 2022). The coating has been tested on avocados and the coating was still able to be rinsed off with ease. The treated object will still degrade in soil in about three days in the case that it is discarded. It was found that not only were the coated avocados less likely to rot, but they were also more likely to retain their inner original color. To consume the food, simply run it under water and the nontoxic coating will be rinsed off. This solution is much better than the usage of non biodegradable materials such as plastics where it has to be collected and recycled. When the food with the coating is discarded, the coating will degrade in the soil in three days(Chang et al., 2022). This prevents further filling up our landfills or the need to have it undergo incineration to dispose.

It is common knowledge that plastics have a negative impact on the environment, however why does the world still adopt plastic packaging for almost everything we use in our day to day life? Plastics provide many advantages namely its durability, longevity and Versatility (Schoo, 2017). The new food coating is still being researched  hence the possible negative and harmful effects of the coatings are not fully explored yet.

At the end of the day, the microbial coating is just one of the many alternatives being researched and introduced. It may not be able to replace all the wrappers with the new coating, but whatever step it takes to reduce plastic waste, is a step forward to a more sustainable, greener future.

References

 

Jones, S. (2022, June 24). Spray-on, rinse-off food 'wrapper' can cut plastic packaging. Scientific American. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/spray-on-rinse-off-food-lsquo-wrapper-rsquo-can-cut-plastic-packaging/ 

Nasery, M., Hassanzadeh, M. K., Najaran, Z. T., & Emami, S. A. (2015, October 30). Essential Oils in Food Preservation, Flavor and Safety. Retrieved September 27, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780124166417000754 

World Health Organization. (2022, May 19). Food safety. Retrieved September 27, 2022, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/food-safety 

Aytac, Z., Huang, R., Vaze, N., Xu, T., Eitzer, B. D., Krol, W., MacQueen, L. A., Chang, H., Bousfield, D. W., Chan-Park, M. B., Ng, K. W., Parker, K. K., White, J. C., & Demokritou, P. (2020). Development of biodegradable and antimicrobial electrospun zein fibers for food packaging. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 8(40), 15354–15365. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c05917

Chang, H., Xu, J., Macqueen, L. A., Aytac, Z., Peters, M. M., Zimmerman, J. F., Xu, T., Demokritou, P., & Parker, K. K. (2022). High-throughput coating with biodegradable antimicrobial pullulan fibres extends shelf life and reduces weight loss in an avocado model. Nature Food, 3(6), 428–436. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00523-w

OECD. (n.d.). Global plastic waste set to almost triple by 2060, says OECD. Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://www.oecd.org/environment/global-plastic-waste-set-to-almost-triple-by-2060.htm

Schoo, R. (2017, February 17). Why do we need plastic packaging? British Plastics Federation. Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://www.bpf.co.uk/packaging/why-do-we-need-plastic-packaging.aspx

Wahid. (2022, September 26). Harmful effects of Non-Biodegradable plastic products. ecomaniac.org. Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://ecomaniac.org/non-biodegradable-plastic-products/#:~:text=Harmful%20Effects%20of%20Non-Biodegradable%20Plastic%20Products%201%201.,into%20water%20supplies.%20...%203%203.%20Air%20Pollution