In an era of environmental consciousness and sustainability, food packaging plays a crucial role. This is because suitable packaging helps ensure safety and hygiene, preserves the quality and freshness of food items, and minimizes harmful impacts on the environment. Among various food packaging options out there, aluminium and glass are the two most popular ones, especially in the bottles category. Both these materials have unique properties, but aluminium scores over the glass in many ways. How? Let us find out.
Properties of aluminium that makes it a better choice than glass in food packaging
Aluminium has many unique properties that pitch it against the glass as a formidable competitor. These properties are as follows:
- Non-reactive
Aluminium is a non-reactive material; hence, it does not react with food. This safeguards the food inside from getting contaminated, which is a big concern for manufacturers and consumers alike. So, it is widely used to pack different food materials and beverages.
- Taste-neutral
Aluminium does not have any specific type of taste or odour. This makes aluminium an ideal choice for packaging as it helps preserve all the flavours of the food inside the container.
- Impervious to light
Due to its impervious nature towards light, aluminium can protect food against the sun's harmful rays by reflecting light more efficiently than most other materials used for packaging. This is crucial for light-sensitive food items, such as those rich in vitamins A, B2 (riboflavin), B6, B12 and folic acid.
- Exceptional barrier properties
Aluminium offers complete protection against oxygen, moisture and light, which means food components packed inside an aluminium can, or container remain fresh and aromatic for longer. In the absence of oxygen and moisture, the chances of microbial contamination also get minimized. Further, aluminium cans can be hermetically sealed, which is impossible in glass bottles and jars.
- Resistance towards heat
From extremely low to high temperatures, aluminium packaging can withstand all conditions better than glass. There is no possibility of melting, scorching or cracking. Hence, these packaging products can be stored in a deep freezer or heated in the oven.
Additional benefits of aluminium packaging
- Easily recyclable
Aluminum is one of the most highly recycled materials. It can be recycled repeatedly without losing its properties. This means that it is an eco-friendly option when it comes to use as a packaging material. According to the food packaging company Plus Pack, "95% more energy is saved by recycling aluminium than by extracting new aluminium."
- Light-weight material
Aluminium is much lighter than glass, reducing overall transportation costs. This means more products can be shipped by vehicles from one place to another without spending extra money. Plus, this makes aluminium a more reliable material than glass. Very thin aluminium gauges can also maintain the quality of food products, further reducing the weight of the packaging units. Sanitizer manufacturer Docs Shultz quite rightly observed that transporting glass containers to different places not only increases logistics costs but can also increase the emission of greenhouse gases by 20% more than the transportation of aluminium containers.
- Branding opportunities
Aluminium is known for being ductile and malleable, so it can be moulded easily. This gives aluminium packaging an upper hand in terms of marketing. The metal sheet can be customized to any shape or size with logos, colours, visual elements and typography printed to make it more appealing to the customers and promote a brand. This makes it a popular choice for food and beverage industry players.
Conclusion
Aluminium is a versatile metal with multiple benefits. Beverages, canned food, frozen food, oven- fresh hot food- you name it, and aluminium is perfect for wrapping it up in silvery armour, ensuring complete safety. With the world becoming increasingly conscious about health, hygiene and safety and awareness increasing for environmental sustainability, the usage of aluminium as a food packaging material is all set to proliferate.
