Coordinator: Dr Erin Young
Teaching Staff: Dr Erin Young, Professor Miranda Mirosa, Professor Phil Bremer
Module description
Food packaging sits at the intersection between marketing, production, consumers, and the environmental impact of food supply. It, therefore, must find the balance in navigating conflicting demands. In this module, students will become familiar with the ‘why’ behind many packaging design decisions and ‘who’ and ‘what’ packaging needs to work for. This module will also examine the materials and innovations available to the food industry to achieve their food protection, safety, and consumer engagement goals. The students will then learn how to use that information to take an interdisciplinary approach to packaging design evaluation for a food product, assessing the packaging format and the materials to meet stakeholder needs. In addition, they will interact with legislative guidelines to ensure the food labelling is compliant and meets all stakeholder needs.
On completion of the course, students should:
- Have a good understanding of the role of food packaging in the food supply chain, including the link to shelf life
- Be able to navigate and consider conflicting packaging demands and make design decisions
- Be able to perform necessary packaging-related calculations to write specifications and engage with suppliers
Topics
- The role of packaging in sustainable food production
- Packaging materials and innovation
- Packaging and the consumer
- Labelling and printing
- Sustainable packaging materials and the environmental impact of packaging
- The link between quality management and legislation on food packaging
- Working with and testing packaging in a food manufacturing environment
Format
4-week intensive course, Semester TBC
8 Lectures/Tutorials of 2 hours
Assessment
This module is worth 50% of a 20-credit paper, as follows:
- Opinion essay – 25%
- Food packaging evaluation – 25%