Lecture 2 : Packaging Function

2nd Semester, SY 2022 – 2023

 SEVEN MAIN REASONS WHY PACKAGING
DEVELOPED AND IS IN USE TODAY
1. To protect a product from
damage or contamination by
micro-organisms and air,
moisture, and toxins.
The product must be protected against being
dropped, crushed, and the vibration it suffers
during transport.
Delicate products such as fruits need to be
protected by a rigid package such as a laminated
container.
The product must also be protected against the
climate including high temperatures, humidity,
light, and gases in the air. It must also be protected
against micro-organisms, chemicals, soil, and
insects
 SEVEN MAIN REASONS WHY PACKAGING
DEVELOPED AND IS IN USE TODAY
2. To deliver the item as a
whole
Some shapes cannot be easily packaged, for example,
certain vegetables. However, there are methods of getting
around this problem.
Suppliers of canned vegetables such as carrots have
developed a particular type of plant that yields carrots that
are straight and smaller than the normal variety. These fit
into cans. Some products such as fruit juices and sausages
need to be contained in packages that hold them together
and are sealed to prevent spillage and loss.
 SEVEN MAIN REASONS WHY PACKAGING
DEVELOPED AND IS IN USE TODAY
3. Product identity
Packaging is the main way products are advertised and
identified. To the manufacturer, the package clearly identifies
the product inside and it is usually the package that the
customer recognizes when shopping.
Advertising is very important when a manufacturer launches a
new or existing product. The package, through its colour
scheme or logo, is what is normally identified by the
customer. The package will also contain important
information including ingredients and ‘sell by date’.
 SEVEN MAIN REASONS WHY PACKAGING
DEVELOPED AND IS IN USE TODAY
4. Protection during Transport
and Ease of Transport.
A package should be designed to make it easy to
transport, move and lift. A regular shaped package
(such as a cuboid) can be stacked without too much
space between each package being wasted. This
means that more packages can be transported in a
container of a lorry. Unusually shaped packages can
lead to space being wasted and this can be costly if
thousands of the same package are been transported.
 SEVEN MAIN REASONS WHY PACKAGING
DEVELOPED AND IS IN USE TODAY
5. Stacking and Storage.
In supermarkets and shops, it must be possible to stack
packages so that space is not wasted on the shelves. Lost
space on shelves is looked upon as a lost opportunity to sell to
a customer. Also, the package must be designed in such a way
that all the important information can be seen by a potential
buyer, especially the product name.
The next time you visit the supermarket, look carefully at the
shape of the packages. They are usually the same
rectangular/cuboid shape. It is the selection of colors and
shades that determine whether the product inside is regarded
as a quality, sophisticated or cheap item. Often packages are
stacked on top and alongside each other to reduce wasted
space. The shape and form of the package determine how
efficiently it can be stacked or stored.
 SEVEN MAIN REASONS WHY PACKAGING
DEVELOPED AND IS IN USE TODAY
6. Printed Information.
Information that is useful to consumers and companies such as
Supermarkets, is printed on the packaging. This includes
ingredients, sell-by dates, price, special offers, manufacturers'
address, contact information, product title, barcode, and more.

The bar code is extremely useful to the shop selling the product.
When the barcode is scanned, the computer system automatically
determines if the product needs reordering. Also, the price of the
product appears at the till.
 SEVEN MAIN REASONS WHY PACKAGING
DEVELOPED AND IS IN USE TODAY
7. Aesthetic value
Packaging can make a simple product look
attractive or a unique product looks ordinary. It’s
an important aesthetic touchpoint that can make or
break a sale.
Packaging makes it easier for the customer to
identify and differentiate it from other products.
Moreover, attractive packages have a property to
stand out and attract customers towards it.
 FUNCTIONS OF PACKAGING AND
LEGISLATIONS
Local industries have adopted various global standards for
Packaging and Packaging materials depending on the product.
In general, BRC Global Standards have been a good
reference.
The Standard has always been intended to assist sites and
their customers to comply with legislative requirements for
product safety. It categorizes the application based on its
intended use, whether its hygienic-sensitive or not. The
standard typically follows the quality management standards
as applied to whichever category.
 FUNCTIONS OF PACKAGING
For Containment
Properly designed, constructed and sealed packs provide Some common examples of containment failures should be
address by the packaging technologist:
complete containment for the contents, preventing unsightly or
dangerous leakage, or loss of parts. Containment also means
keeping a number of different or the same items packed
together, and this applies to primary, secondary and tertiary
packs.
A key step in evaluating the risk of leakage is to identify the
factors which can affect the efficient containment of the product.
Leak testing should be carried out during development, making
sure that the likely conditions of use are taken into account.
 FUNCTIONS OF PACKAGING
For Protection
Protection means the prevention/reduction of physical damage
to the product, during all stages of its life. This includes
manufacture and packaging operations, storage and handling in
warehouses, transport to the merchant, distributor or store for
sale, display, and moving to the final usage point.
The key steps to follow to decide what type of packaging will
provide the product with the appropriate level of protection are
define the product, define the environment to which the product
is likely to be exposed, and investigate the properties (including
cost) of available protective packaging materials.
 FUNCTIONS OF PACKAGING
For Preservation
The objective of preservation is to extend the shelf life of a product.
This part applies mainly, but not exclusively, to the food, drink,
pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.
According to the Institute of Food Science and Technology, ‘shelf
life’ is defined as the time during which the product, when stored at
the recommended conditions, will remain safe; be certain to retain
desired sensory, chemical, physical and microbiological
characteristics; and comply with any label declaration. To determine
the optimum packaging required to extend shelf life, we need to
define the product in terms of what will cause it to deteriorate, i.e.
what is the spoilage mechanism.
 FUNCTIONS OF PACKAGING
For Preservation
Defining the spoilage mechanism of a product is part of the
research and development stage of the product, and this is an
example of how product and pack development personnel
must work closely together. Product spoilage, and therefore
shelf life is determined by microbiological, physical or
chemical factors, depending on the product, the process, the
packaging and the storage conditions (Blackburn, 2000).
Biotic spoilage is caused by microorganisms (bacteria,
moulds, yeasts) which may render a product unacceptable in
appearance, taste, smell and effectiveness, or be toxic and
cause sickness. Different organisms have preferred conditions
for growth and adverse conditions in which they will not
propagate, and this is the basis of product preservation
systems.
 FUNCTIONS OF PACKAGING
For Preservation
The conditions to be considered are as follows:
 FUNCTIONS OF PACKAGING
For Preservation
Abiotic spoilage refers to the chemical or physical
changes brought about by external factors such as
oxygen, moisture, light, temperature, loss/gain of
volatiles, e.g. oxygen, causing rancidity in fats,
creams and oils; loss of moisture causing drying
out and hardening of bread, lipstick, pastes, etc.;
Gain of moisture causing lumping of powders and
loss of crispness of cereals; excessive heat causing
drying out; excessive cold causing undesirable
freezing.
The basic principle of product preservation
processes is to address the cause(s) of spoilage,
and then to use appropriate packaging and storage
conditions to maintain the product in its desired
state.
 FUNCTIONS OF PACKAGING
For Convenience
Packaging designers have the opportunity to build in features to make handling easy, convenient and safe. If it
is both intuitive and ergonomically sound how the pack should be picked up, opened and unpacked, potential
damage to the contents and personnel will be minimised. Just some examples of consumer convenience are
• easy product access from tubes and squeezable bottles;
• easy-open features such as tear-tapes in film wraps or ‘tear here’ cuts in sachets;
• easy-open and reclose features such as flip-top closures on sauces and shampoos;
• packs which collate, for example, five individually-wrapped snacks into one pack which is easier to handle
and store in the cupboard than single packs;
• boil-in-bag and heat-in-tray foods, which mean no dirty saucepans;
• ring-pull cans, requiring no special opening tools.
 FUNCTIONS OF PACKAGING
For Information
There is a need for information on the
identity of the product, its weight/volume,
destination and handling and possibly
unpacking/repacking instructions, and such
information must be easy to locate and
understand. For important instructions,
consideration should be given to the use of
pictograms, to overcome any language
barriers.

For the consumer there is an increasing need

to provide legal, promotional and usage data
for a product.
 LEGISLATIONS
Legislations concerning Food
The main area of concern is the possibility that components of the
materials in contact with the food could leach into the food and
endanger a person’s health, or adversely affect the quality and
taste of the food. By law, materials okay to be in contact with food
should have this symbol.

With respect to paper and board the legislation has not been
developed to specify the methodology by which these objectives
are to be met, and because of the absorbent nature of the material,
the procedures used for plastics are not suitable.

Glass containers for foods are required to comply with the general
requirements for materials in contact with foods it has been
decorated with unsuitable enamel. Other symbols such as below
should be adopted to represent the product.
 LEGISLATIONS
Legislation concerning safety of packaging for
medicines
There are widespread requirements that medicines are to be contained
within child-resistant packs. Exhaustive panel tests are required to
validate that the packs cannot usually be opened by young children and
that they can usually be opened by an elderly person.
The design and layout of the text of the pack is controlled as part of the
product license. Amongst these is a requirement that the product name
and strength appears in Braille. this may be achieved by embossing a
carton or printing a thermally raised varnish onto a label.
Pharmaceutical measuring devices such as spoons are required to be
‘CE’ marked, which indicates that the device has been validated and
subject to ongoing process controls to ensure that it accurately delivers
the required quantity of the medicine.
 LEGISLATIONS
Legislation concerning safety of aerosols
The Aerosol Dispensers Directive has been subjected to several
updates, and covers areas such as: the size of
the container by material; the testing of empty cans; the testing of
finished aerosol product; and the requirements for clear labelling
for instructions for safe use and disposal, together with
appropriate warnings. The legislation includes the provision of
the ‘reversed epsilon’ mark ' to indicate compliance with the
requirements of the Directive and enable smooth transport across
the borders between EU countries.
 LEGISLATIONS
Legislation relating to the filling of products
Three rules are followed. The average of the
contents of the packs shall not be less than the
nominal quantity (the label claim); Less than
2.5% of the packs may contain less than the
nominal quantity minus the permitted
tolerable negative error; and No packs may
contain less than the nominal quantity minus
twice the permitted tolerable negative error.
 LEGISLATIONS

The failure to comply with legislation will lead to the

occurrence of circumstances which the regulations are in place
to prevent, such as: failing to provide the appropriate level of
preservation; failing to provide the required information; or
delivering poor quality or unsafe packs into the market. these
may be handled as customer complaints but may also lead to
legal proceedings. the penalties for non-compliance may be
brought against different bodies.
 ACTIVITY 2

As a Group; Discuss what existing packaging

designs present here in the Philippine market
are innovative and useful. State at least 5 of
them.

Also, collaborate to discuss and decide 5 poor

packaging designs here in the market and
propose potential solution points you may
recommend.

Considering the following factors:

-weight
-sustainability
-waste prevention
-simplify packaging