food materials

Greener straws? Bacteria help turn food waste into compostable plastic

Posted on March 2, 2026

Reduce, Reuse and Rethink is a CBC News series about recycling. We’re exploring why our communities are at a turning point and exploring ways to recycle better. You can be part of the conversation by joining our Facebook group. What if plastic were made from waste like banana peels, coffee grounds and cardboard takeout containers instead of petroleum? And what if, after use, that plastic decomposes like the biological materials it was made from? Toronto-based Genecis, a biotech startup, is trying to make that dream of greener plastic a reality and to make it cheap enough to use in everyday…

New edible coating to prolong shelf life of fruits and vegetables

Posted on February 25, 2026

The material was tested on potato, tomato, green chili, strawberry, Khasi Mandarin, apple, pineapple and kiwifruit and was found to keep these vegetables fresh for almost two monthsA team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) — Guwahati has developed an edible material that, coated on vegetables and fruits, substantially extends their shelf-life. The material was tested on potato, tomato, green chili, strawberry, Khasi Mandarin, apple, pineapple and kiwifruit and was found to keep these vegetables fresh for almost two months. The team used a mix of an extract of a marine microalga called Dunaliella tertiolecta and…

Shellac-based coating makes pulp materials suitable for food without the use of petroleum-based polymers or metals

Posted on February 21, 2026

Shellac-based coating makes pulp materials suitable for food without the use of petroleum based polymers or metals. Credit: Prof. Nattakan SoykeabkaewResearchers at the School of Science, Mae Fah Luang University, Thailand and the School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, UK, have developed a shellac-based coating to improve the gas barrier properties of a recyclable, compostable and sustainable sourced packaging material to make it suitable for instant, dehydrated, frozen and chilled foods.Molded pulp, made from renewable materials such as eucalyptus wood or sugarcane bagasse, is widely used as a sustainable packaging material to protect…

FSSAI moves to make food packaging safer | India News

Posted on February 20, 2026

NEW DELHI: Loose packaging such as colored and black carry bags, disposable containers with aluminum coating and sweet boxes have been identified as major contaminants of packaged food, prompting the food regulator to come up with new regulations on food packaging.Around 80% of food samples packed in colored carry bags, 59% in black carry bags and over 24% in aluminum coated disposable containers and 21% in sweet boxes were found chemically contaminated, findings of a national survey of food packaging materials conducted by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) shows.In order to curb the menace, the regulator…

Ultra-processed Foods Largely Missing from US Food Policy

Posted on November 21, 2025

Ultra-processed foods—including industrially produced packaged snacks, fruit-flavored drinks, and hot dogs—have been linked to health issues ranging from weight gain to certain cancers. So where are the food policies helping Americans to steer clear of these foods? A new study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine finds that only a small number of US policies consider ultra-processed foods, lagging behind countries such as Belgium, Brazil, and Israel. “In some countries, ultra-processed foods have been directly integrated into national dietary guidelines and school food programs, but in the US, few policies directly target ultra-processed foods,” said Jennifer Pomeranz, associate…

Food ministry notifies sugar mills on strict compliance to package sugar in jute packaging material

Posted on September 10, 2024

Representational imageIn a notification issued on the 24th day of April 2023, the Department of Food & Public Distribution (DFPD) stated that sugar mills shall strictly comply with 20% packaging of the total production of sugar in jute packaging material. Recently, the Central Government has issued orders under the provisions of Jute Packaging Material (Compulsory use in Packaging use in packaging commodities) Act, 1987, specifying 20% of the total production of sugar to be mandatorily packed in the jute packaging material.The JPM Act, 1987 exempts certain types of sugar packaging from the purview of reservations. These include sugar…