Glass: The Clear Packaging Choice For Worried Consumers

By Isaac Fletcher, contributing writer, Food Online

Fears over packaging materials leaching into foods have led shoppers to increasingly seek out chemically inert packaging that will not interact with the food within

Recent research has revealed that consumer concerns regarding health and food safety are just as prevalent as those about the environment, international terrorism, and public safety. The role that packaging plays in food safety is one of the key points of concern amongst the list of overall food safety issues. Many consumers worry that chemical compounds from packaging materials are leaching into foods and cause major health problems. Additionally, fears over negative impacts on food and ingredients from plastic containers have led many consumers to choose almost any packaging material over plastic, including metal, cartons, bag-in-box, and glass.

With health concerns playing an important role in consumer decision making, the demand for glass packaging has increased. The global market value for glass packaging is expected to reach $59.94 billion by 2019, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 3.5 percent. Consumers are looking more at how foods are stored and packed than in previous years where health concerns focused more on what was on foods’ labels.

Professor Dieter Schrenk, an expert in Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Kaiserslautern, Germany elaborates upon the root concerns, “The issue of transfer of food packaging material-borne compounds into the food is important. Here, plastic polymers, metals, and paper/cardboard have been shown in the past to be a relevant source for unwanted chemicals in food. These occur via migration of mostly intentionally added or process-related constituents. Although the risk of exposure toward food contaminated with such compounds is considered as low, more research is needed to clarify this issue scientifically.”

In order to avoid any unwanted contamination from packaging, consumers are increasingly choosing glass as their go-to packaging material. Glass, which acts a natural and impermeable barrier, does not interact with the food or beverage products stored within. Further, glass is the only packaging material in the U.S. that is considered to be generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the FDA. The growing preferences for glass packaging will create opportunities for the expanding market over the next few years, and the food and beverage packaging industry will likely look to capitalize on consumers’ trust of glass.