Food packaging has been around for centuries, initially, the materials used for food packaging were natural materials such as reed baskets, wooden boxes and woven bags. However, post-industrial revolution, the industry improved its methods and became more advanced as new materials were developed for packaging. In the late 19th century, the use of tin and cardboard for food packaging emerged as tin cans and cardboard boxes were introduced. During the 20th century more materials were developed for packaging such as glass, paper, plastic, steel and aluminium. Food packaging has numerous advantages including protection from the external environment to prevent contamination, longer shelf life, provides customers with nutritional information, and allows product control by providing tamper free packaging for food products. Presently, there has been an increasing amount of research on food safety and food hygiene related to the materials used in food packaging since some materials are harmful for health and can cause food borne illnesses. Therefore, the industry has adopted advanced technologies and in-depth product knowledge focusing around food safety and food hygiene to meet with the high standards and regulations in food packaging. Food packaging is a big industry in UK with high standards of food packaging and a governing body, The UK Food Standards Agency, which regulates packaging standards for food safety thus preventing food borne illnesses. The UK Food Standards Agency has two important roles, research and regulation. Primarily, its goal is to provide researched information on food safety to ensure the safety of UK citizens from the risk of harmful chemicals in food packaging materials. Secondly, based on the research it regulates the packaging standards by setting laws regarding the materials used in packaging, including the ink used in labelling. There are specific laws for different food packaging materials, plastics, for example have specific laws that are different than laws for aluminium or paper. Presently the UK food packaging industry is worth billions, growing each year by about 15%, and contributing to an increasing number of UK food jobs. Visit searchme4 online business directory for more information regarding food packaging and materials companies operating in UK. For more information on Food Packaging, visit our business directory
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