ABSTRACT
Food packaging technology and engineering are essential subcomponents of the modern food supply system. The rationale underlying the achievements in food packaging technology has largely been based upon the scientific elucidation of the kinetics and mechanisms of food quality and nutrient deterioration as a function of package barrier characteristics. An adequate food supply system is an essential component of any modern, industrialized society. Food processing is performed primarily to retard degradations, and/or to make food more acceptable, and/or to make nutrients more available. The ideal food package would be beneficial, or at least nondetrimental, in its interactions with the food. At the same time the ideal package optimally regulates exchanges between the food and all the components of its environment in a manner that enhances the quality of the food or at least prevents deterioration. The food supply system upon which modern, industrialized societies depend could not exist without modern food packaging.
