Hui Xiang Reader Response Summary Draft 3
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. Furthermore, 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 biodegradable and safe.
To dig
deeper into details, the new microbial coating contains the ingredient,
pullalan which is a popular biopolymer used for biodegradable food packaging.
Pullalan is flexible, soluble, has great biocompatibility and biodegradability
(Singh et al., 2008). According to a study by Kimoto et al. (1997), it had no
records of negative effects when consumed (Kimoto et al., 1997). Pullalan has
since seen much diversity in its usage in recent years ranging from biomedical
applications to antibacterial applications (Ganie et al., 2020). However,
plastics instead have always been the all-time favourite for food packaging. It
is reported by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that
the world is set to triple its plastic waste produced by the year 2060 (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 (Covey, 2019). 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 (Wahid, 2022).
Secondly,
the microbial coating provides great protection against harmful substances. 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.,
2016). 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 bacteria that cause foodborne
illness, Escherichia coli and Listeria innocua (Aytac et al.,
2020). This coating is tested to lengthen the shelf life of the food under
ambient conditions for up to 7 days (Chang et al., 2022).
Lastly,
it is common knowledge that plastics have a negative impact on the environment.
However, the world still adopts plastic packaging as its favourite. Plastics
provide many advantages namely its durability, longevity, and versatility
(Schoo, 2017). Plastic is light and can be reused multiple times. The new food
coating is still not all perfect because there is concern that there might be
ecotoxicological effects during release to the aquatic environment (Rosenberg
et al., 2019). Microbial coatings are still relatively new and 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
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
Covey,
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Ganie,
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Applications. Pullulan, 89–132. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003056942-5
Kimoto,
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Nasery,
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Rosenberg,
M., Ilić, K., Juganson, K., Ivask, A., Ahonen, M., Vinković Vrček, I., &
Kahru, A. (2019, February 11). Potential ecotoxicological effects of
antimicrobial surface coatings: A literature survey backed up by analysis of
Market Reports. PeerJ. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6375256/
Schoo,
R. (2017, February 17). Why do we need plastic packaging? British Plastics
Federation. https://www.bpf.co.uk/packaging/why-do-we-need-plastic-packaging.aspx
Singh,
R. S., Saini, G. K., & Kennedy, J. F. (2008). Pullulan: Microbial sources,
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2008.01.003
Verma,
R., Vinoda, K. S., Papireddy, M., & Gowda, A. N. S. (2016). Toxic
pollutants from plastic waste- A Review. Procedia Environmental Sciences,
35, 701–708. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proenv.2016.07.069
Wahid. (2022, September 26). Harmful
effects of Non-Biodegradable plastic products. ecomaniac.org.
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
World
Health Organization. (2022, May 19). Food safety.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/food-safety
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