AIP-Competence Platform

Projectname:
Development of tools to communicate advanced technologies on active and intelligent packaging to meet the needs and trends in food processing and retailing and to improve the knowledge transfer especially for SMEs

Workgroup: Packaging materials

Scientific Partners anfd Guidance:
Fraunhofer-Institut für Verfahrenstechnik und Verpackung IVV; Dr. Kajetan Müller

IGF: 22 EN
Financing: BMWi
Duration: 2009-2011

The continuous demand for a higher food quality and safety in the sector of fresh natural convenience food is an increasing challenge both for the food and packaging industries. This challenge can be overcome by incorporation of “active and intelligent” properties into the package. Traditional packaging systems cannot meet the new challenges and will have a problem in maintaining food quality and safety. Information exchange on active and intelligent packaging (AIP) is especially needed for SMEs who are not in the position to do this on their own. Effective partnership is needed to fasten their access to superior technology and reinforce their position in the European and global food market. Against this background, the proposed project will have the following innovation targets:

  1. To enable SMEs to integrate AIP solutions into their products, adapted to respond to the consumer demands for a high diversity of fresh and nutritious convenience foods.
  2. To provide a Collaboration Platform to organise networking between the involved research institutes, associations and SMEs, and to form a Knowledge and Communication Platform to supply knowledge, technologies, and expertise to all involved parties.

The project will cover the following work areas and yield the related outcomes:

  • To collect technical knowledge and available data on commercialised techniques of AIP for food applications
  • To exploit and disseminate the potential of AIP materials by evaluating their functional properties/risks/processing techniques in combination with specific food applications,
  • To establish and document new methods for effective and comparable characterisation of AIP functionalities, submission of test methodologies to the standardisation committees
  • To give up-to-date information on regulatory aspects
  • To set up a group of key institutes and food and packaging specialists in Europe skilled in developing and testing of AIP as contact points

Documents

The IGF project presented here by the Research Association of the Industrial Association for Food Technology and Packaging (IVLV e.V.) is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action as part of the program for the promotion of industrial community research (IGF) based on a decision of the German Bundestag.