We eat and we drink every day. Most of us take it for granted. We get up in the morning, go to our refrigerators, and fill ourselves with food that we bought a week ago but still tastes fresh. Food that only a decade or so ago would have gone bad in a day or two. There are a few different reasons why we are seeing our food last longer, but a great deal of the credit must go to packaging and the diligence with which that packaging is screened.
Packaging in plastic has been proven to reduce food waste and add days to the freshness label of certain products. Most packaging experts agree that each pound of plastic packaging can reduce food waste by 1.7 pounds. This is extremely important as we strive to feed more people and reduce food-borne illnesses here in the United States as well as around the world.
Another important tool used in the effort to keep food fresh and help detect any packaging problems is x-ray food inspection. This technology is used to make sure that the quality of food and other products maintains the standards of packaging it is intended to have. X-ray food inspection uses x-ray technology to inspect products for quality defects such as contaminants, missing or mispackaged items, and other flaws that would diminish the quality of foods.
Every year, roughly 48 million Americans become sick as the result of some kind of food-borne illness. Over 128,000 people spend time in the hospital and roughly 3,000 die. It makes sense, then, that food companies would want to do all that they can do to keep their products safe for customers to consume.
In addition to looking for companies that will deliver a quality food product, a good number of consumers in this day and age are looking for more from their food providers. They are looking for quality packaging, but quality packaging that will also be good for the environment. Over 525 of consumers around the world have said that they look for a brand that uses a packaging that is making a positive impact on environmental concerns, not just long-lasting freshness.
Technology such as shrink bags and vacuum pouches reduce the kinds of waste that used to be found in packaging from years ago. In addition, x-ray food inspection helps food and beverage companies keep their waste to a minimum as they prepare for their products to be distributed to stores and then to the homes of all Americans and citizens of the world.
Food sealing machines have come a long way in the last 100 years. For example, meat of all kinds has a much longer shelf life these days than it ever has before. This is due in large part to the packaging machines that seal in the freshness of a cut of meat, protecting it from outside contaminants.
