ABSTRACT
Consumer demand for mildly preserved, minimally processed, easily prepared, and ready-to-eat “fresher” foods-together with retail and distribution practices related to globalization, new consumer product logistics, new distribution trends (e.g., Internet shopping), automatic handling systems at distribution centers, and the stricter requirements regarding consumer health-pose major challenges for food quality and safety (Vermeiren et al. 1999; Sonneveld 2000; Yam et al. 2005; Llorens et al. 2012). A reduction in shelf life of foods as a result of microbial contamination leading to an increase in the risk of food-borne illness (Juneja and Sofos 2009) and lipid oxidation resulting in a chronic toxicity to human cellular materials (Davies 1995) are the major driving forces for innovation in food packaging.
