When looking in the fridge, you notice a package of minced meat sitting at the back of one of the shelves, totally forgotten. A check of the best-before date reveals it had expired two days earlier. Like so many consumers, you feel an internal struggle emerging: risk food poisoning or discard a potentially safe product? One possible solution for this conundrum could be “intelligent packaging.”

Intelligent packaging monitors the condition of the food or the environment surrounding the packaged food. Standard packaging plays one or more of four roles: protection, communication, convenience and containment.

Protection can be regarded as the most important function, as it can influence whether the food ends up as waste. Intelligent packaging can fulfill the four main functions and can also provide information about the condition and freshness of the food.

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