Hui Xiang Reader Response Summary Draft 2
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.
To start off, 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), there were no indications of an adverse effect of pullalan when consumed (Kimoto et al., 1997). However, plastics instead have always been the all time favorite 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., 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).
Lastly, 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 used in day to day activities? 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, 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, J. (2019, December 27). Plastics depend on fossil fuels. FossilFuel.com. Retrieved October 2, 2022, from https://fossilfuel.com/plastics-depend-on-fossil-fuels/
Kimoto, T., Shibuya, T., & Shiobara, S. (1997). Safety Studies of a novel starch, Pullulan: Chronic toxicity in rats and bacterial mutagenicity. Food and Chemical Toxicology, 35(3-4), 323–329. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0278-6915(97)00001-x
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
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
Singh, R. S., Saini, G. K., & Kennedy, J. F. (2008). Pullulan: Microbial sources, production and applications. Carbohydrate Polymers, 73(4), 515–531. 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. 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
World Health Organization. (2022, May 19). Food safety. Retrieved September 27, 2022, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/food-safety
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