2021 Food Technology Innovations Bringing the Real Change

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Food Technology

The food industry is complex and has been thriving in the past few years. Even after changing a lot of difficulties because of climate change and environmental issues, the advancements in food technology kept things together. 

Whether you’re a food technology enthusiast, a food wholesaler on a China B2B marketplace, or a professional in the food industry, you should stay updated with the developments in the food industry.

Technology doesn’t always have to be holographic or extremely sciencey. Anything that helps the people and makes things easier than ever before. Most of the things in our list of food technology trends are not electronic directly, but technology has contributed to all of them one way or another. 

So without any further ado, let’s jump into the list of best food technology improvements.

1. Plastic Packaging No-More

Plastic is one of the cheapest and most harmful packaging materials. The debate on reducing plastic usage has been around for a long time now. Due to the declining health of our planet, this is time to stop using plastic. 

Many countries in the EU have already banned the use of disposable plastic. Following them, many countries have taken similar initiatives as well. The best substitute for plastic packaging adopted by many food items producers are:

  1. Biodegradable Packaging
  2. Edible Packaging
  3. Smart Packaging

Biodegradable Packaging

The biggest problem with plastic is that it doesn’t decompose naturally at all and is harmful to countless organisms on the Earth.

Biodegradable packaging is made from polymer-free plastic produced from totally organic materials. It is also known as Bioplastic. 

The biodegradable packaging is decomposed naturally and benefits the fertility of our planet as well. 

Edible Packaging

Edible packaging is made from food-grade polymers that include seaweed and similar material.

You can literally eat seaweed if you want to. However, if you’re not a fan of seaweed, then you can organically dispose of it. It doesn’t harm the environment at all, instead, it helps it!

Smart Packaging

Also known as “nano-packaging”, smart packaging is an innovative way to detect and highlight changes in food quality.  It uses nanotechnology to show if the food does not have any kind of chemical or physical contamination and is safe to consume.

2. Forward Osmosis, Keeping Your Food Healthy 

Many food items have to sit for a long time before they reach the consumers. Before the distribution process starts, food has to be concentrated. A lot of food items lose their nutrition in the concentration process. On the other hand, concentrating on food requires a lot of energy and heat as well which is harmful to the environment. 

Australia’s CSIRO organization and an American startup called Porifera worked together to make Forward Osmosis possible. It is an efficient method to concentrate food using comparatively less energy and involves no heat at all.  It concentrates the food without wasting any kind of nutritional value as well.

3. Fermentation but Hi-Tech

Fermentation is an ancient technique, around for at least 10,000 years now. A lot of fermented beverages & foods have a high demand and their production is a long process.

Originally, in ancient times and not too long ago, fermentation was done organically by mixing decomposing fruits with other things like saliva or wild rice. The mixture used to be left in small batches to ferment. 

The two issues with it were that it took too much time as only small batches could be fermented at once, and the result had some unwanted ingredients as well. 

Adding to the food technology innovation, the fermentation process can be controlled. For instance, temperature control and advanced data analysis help fermentation to be faster and eliminate undesirable ingredients as well. 

4. Winning Trust with Blockchain

Trust is one of the most powerful emotions humans (and also a lot of animals) have. Claiming the trust of consumers is one of the hardest things. A retailer on the counter can convince the customer by talking, but it gets a little tricky for the online e-commerce food businesses.

Saying that Blockchain is now used as a food technology might be a little surprising but it is true. Blockchain and traceability technology are now helping food businesses to track the quality and origin of their products. It helps them maintain their quality or improve it with time based on the data collected. 

The data is often shared with the consumers through social media channels and other means to let them know how the manufacturer is improving its products for the consumers.

Concluding the Discussion

From modernizing age-old technology to discarding plastic usage, these food technology trends are all about making food better for the consumers and planet as well. 

So if you belong to the industry, start implying these food technology trends on your business as soon as possible!

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