Catalog Description:

Credits:3      Study of major technical, safety and legislative issues involved in modern food packaging practices. Physical and chemical properties of food packaging materials. Survey of modern packaging techniques for various food types.

Pre-requisites/Co-requisites:

CHM 2045

Course Objectives:

After successful completion of this course the student will be able to:

• Rapidly research and identify appropriate US/EC food packaging regulations.
• Critically analyze food packaging strategies to assess appropriateness with regard to safety as well as costs and benefits.
• Specify packaging requirements for various types of foods.

A brief exploration of the historical aspects of food packaging provides a perspective for understanding why and how modern food-packaging industries and associated regulatory environment developed. Physical and chemical properties of food packaging materials including metals, glass, paper and polymers, are studied in relation to their use in food-packaging applications. Finally, modern food packaging practices related to meats, beverages, fruits, vegetables, cereals, dairy products, and snack foods are studied.

Instructor:

Bruce A. Welt Ph.D
Phone: 352-392-1864 ext. 111
e-mail: bwelt@ufl.edu

Material/Supply Fees :

None

Class Materials Required:

Textbook Required:

Food Packaging by Gordon L. Robertson, Marcel Dekker, New York , 1998 (soft cover).

Recommended Reading:

• Soroka, W. Fundamentals of Packaging Technology , Institute of Packaging Professionals, Herndon , VA , 1999.
• Selke, S.E.M., Packaging and the Environment , Technomic Publishing Co., Lancaster , PA , 1994.
• Fennema, O.R. (Editor), Food Chemistry , Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York , NY , 1985.
• Heldman, D.R. and Lund , D.B. (Editors), Handbook of Food Engineering , Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York , NY , 1992.
• Labuza, T.P., Shelf-life Dating of Foods , Food & Nutrition Press, Westport, CT, 1982.

Course Outline:

• Historical aspects of food packaging
• Environmental issues
  • 3-R's
  • Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
• Dairy Packaging
  • Materials
  • Milk
  • Butter
• Moisture control
  • Water Activity
  • Water Vapor Transmission Rate
  • Packaging Materials
• Rate of food degradation
  • Reaction order
  • Arrhenius kinetics
  • Thermal death time
  • Shelf life kinetics
• Food Packaging Materials
  • Paper/corrugated
  • Plastics
  • Metals
    1. Corrosion
    2. Canning
  • Glass
• Packaging horticultural products
  • Modified atmosphere packaging
  • Permeation
  • Respiration
  • Shelf life
• Packaging Meat and seafood product (fresh/frozen)
• Packaging cereals and snack foods (moisture sensitive)
• Packaging beverages

Grading:

Attendance is Mandatory (Each missed class counts as zero homework grade)

All exams, homework and projects will be graded on a scale from 0 to 100. Final grades will be computed from the total of these scores. Final course grades will be assigned as follows:

grading method	points
exams (3 @ 100 each)	300
final exam	100
homework/quiz	100

grading scale
A	450-500
B+	425-449
B	400-424
C+	375-399
c	350-374
d+	325-349
D	300-324
F	<300

Academic Honesty :

All students admitted to the University of Florida have signed a statement of academic honesty committing themselves to be honest in all academic work and understanding that failure to comply with this commitment will result in disciplinary action. This statement is a reminder to uphold your obligation as a UF student and to be honest in all work submitted and exams taken in this course and all others.

Accommodation for Students with Disabilities

Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office. That office will provide the student with documentation that he/she must provide to the course instructor when requesting accommodation.

Use of Library, Personal References, PC Programs and Electronic Databases:

These items are university property and should be utilized with other users in mind. Never remove, mark, modify nor deface resources that do not belong to you. If you're in the habit of underlining text, do it only on your personal copy. It is inconsiderate, costly to others, and dishonest to use common references otherwise.

Software Use :

All faculty, staff and students of the University are required and expected to obey the laws and legal agreements governing software use. Failure to do so can lead to monetary damages and/or criminal penalties for the individual violator. Because such violations are also against University policies and rules, disciplinary action will be taken as appropriate. We, the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of honesty and integrity.

UF Counseling Services :

Resources are available on-campus for students having personal problems or lacking clear career and academic goals which interfere with their academic performance. These resources include:

1. University Counseling Center, 301 Peabody Hall, 392-1575, personal and career counseling; 2. Student Mental Health, Student Health Care Center, 392-1171, personal counseling; 3. Center for Sexual Assault/Abuse Recovery and Education (CARE), Student Health Care Center, 392-1161, sexual assault counseling; 4. Career Resource Center, Reitz Union, 392-1601, career development assistance and counseling.