Packaging is getting smarter

As scientific and technological progress has accelerated the rapid development of commodity production, it has led to the vigorous development of commodity packaging. With the continuous improvement of people's environmental protection and health awareness, it is required that the packaging of goods (especially food) should not only be exquisite in appearance, but also have a reasonable overall structure, and must have good quality and anti-counterfeiting functions. Therefore, R&D personnel have been developing packaging technology and packaging materials, and smart packaging is a wonderful work in the packaging field. Let's talk about the application of smart packaging in food packaging.

Smart Packaging Features and Main Types

Intelligent packaging technology fully embodies the characteristics of the rapid development of high-tech applications in the packaging field. It not only reflects the quality information of packaging and commodity circulation information, but also brings many ways to logistics management and consumers. It can also monitor the quality of packages and warn them about the quality and freshness of foods and other packaging products, so as to ensure that consumers can eat safely and fully appreciate the unique flavor of packaged foods. In addition, it also has a more excellent anti-counterfeiting effect, escorting high-quality goods. With the development of the times, the types of goods are more numerous and complex, and more and more functions are required for the packaging of goods. The wave of high technology has pushed packaging technology to a higher level of development, and smart packaging technology has developed along with the development of high technology in other areas. Therefore, it is historically necessary to develop intelligent packaging.

At present, smart packaging technology mainly has the following significant aspects.

1 adaptive packaging

Adaptive packaging technology is to simulate the environmental parameters required for food, and automatically adjust the environmental changes in the storage and transfer of food, so that the environment in the package can maximize the storage and durability of food. In the adaptive packaging, the food environment parameters to be adjusted or adapted mainly include temperature, humidity, pressure, gas composition, and the like. Adaptive packaging technology is a kind of intelligent packaging technology. This technology includes two parts: material and process. Some environmental parameters depend on chemical regulation, some rely on biological regulation, and some rely on physical regulation. Therefore, this kind of technology is currently the most satisfactory packaging technology and is also the most difficult to implement and control technology.

2. Revealed packaging

The tamper-evident packaging refers to certain special technical measures taken for the articles in order to prevent their opening, stealing, tearing, or mischievous actions. Through this measure, the safety of the articles before they are opened can be judged. In order to ensure the safety of articles, it is necessary to take corresponding measures in the three aspects of manufacturing procedures, retail links, scientific and reasonable and tamper-evident structural design. The tamper-evident packaging technology has diversified characteristics due to the differences in packaging materials, sales methods, container structures, and contents, and can be summarized as the following types. (1) Film wrap. There are several types of wrappers: full fusion wrap, shrink wrap, stretch wrap, and body wrap. (2) Blister packs. Suitable for high-grade foods, medicines and handicrafts, such as blister packaging, platter packaging and clam shell packaging. (3) alarm signal packaging. Using modern technology makes tampered packaging easier to identify. Such materials include discolorable plastic films, new fiber seals, and special materials that contain certain chemicals. (4) The cover can be damaged. There are two types of disconnected cover and vacuum cover. (5) bottle closed packaging. Usually divided into inner seal and soft cover. (6) Shrink the ferrule. (7) Fully enclosed container. (8) Tape seals, etc.

3. Traceability transport packaging

Traceability Transport packaging means that packages and containers are tracked throughout transportation and circulation, so that managers can timely complete packaging for optimal adjustment of their distribution channels and transportation routes. This packaging technology is equipped with electronic chips on the container or tray, which can track and record various information and can be read at any time and place. Traceability transport packaging is particularly suitable for white goods transportation management and electronic shopping delivery methods, because electronic trading requires the supply of real-time or lean production methods; at the same time, electronic shopping distribution centers and regional distribution centers are also It is hoped that shipments will be carried out with the shortest route and mixed goods loaded to achieve cost reduction. Due to the particularity of this form of packaging, its scope of application is greatly limited.

4. Smart labels

Smart tags, also known as radio frequency identification tags, are high-tech products in the field of tags. Today, they have played an important role in product packaging and are gradually replacing traditional product tags and bar codes. Smart Label is a rookie in the field of labels. It has the function of surpassing the traditional labels and is the crystallization of high technology such as electronics and computers in the label printing. Smart tags include RFID tags, concealed or exposed trademark protection indicators, or sensors that indicate the status of the product. The electronic tag is mainly composed of a chip and an antenna. The chip is mainly used for receiving and transmitting data, and is read through a radio frequency signal sent by a reader. The reader is connected with an antenna and a computer network to form an electronic module, and the reader sends from it. The special signal of the antenna is given to the electronic tag in a specific area, and the feedback information is processed and transmitted to the computer network so that the management personnel can obtain the special information of the product. Smart labels can help manufacturers and consumers understand the status of commodity inventory, circulation, and shelf life in real time, and play a significant role in monitoring the status and position of their products in the supply chain. For example, the packaging of many foods and medicines must be stored and transported at a specific temperature and in a low-pollution environment. The general label cannot understand and monitor the temperature and shelf life of the product, and the smart label can be monitored during the storage and transportation of the product. The temperature of perishable products that are sensitive to temperature requirements, it uses special chips, antennas, sensors, etc. to measure the temperature during storage and transportation, alerting manufacturers to prevent temperature changes affecting the product. Also, if the warehouse manager can use smart tags to understand the type and quantity of products on the shelves, they can check the product inventory data to determine the sales of the products. In addition, the smart label enhances the anti-counterfeiting effect of traditional labels, and its anti-counterfeiting function has greatly exceeded the conventional barcode labels, especially in pharmaceutical packaging.

The core of the smart tag is a radio frequency circuit and sensor containing an IC chip. A programmable integrated circuit and an antenna are installed inside, and a radio frequency signal and a read/write device can be used to receive and transmit information. Product identification, anti-counterfeiting, and theft prevention are provided. Various functions, such as management, are currently used to upgrade and update bar code labels of products. Smart labels have the advantages of being small, thin, and flexible (products can be made to a thickness of about 0.1 mm, sizes from a few millimeters to nearly 20 cm, can be twisted and bent freely), and have the ability to read data quickly and can be The command reads ID numbers and some special information. Smart tags have anti-collision and read-write features and can read and write multiple electronic tags at the same time. The smart tag can carry data and can quickly read the data stored in its chip through a special card reader, and can also easily rewrite the data during the work process. Smart tags can be used without connection, without power supply, and without contact, and can also make rich changes at the RF frequency. In the smart tag, a variety of materials can be embedded inside the features and readable features, widely used in wireless identification, such as product identification, quality monitoring, ticketing, asset management and provide a series of tracking management applications. Smart labels provide new tools for security and logistics management.

There is a big difference between smart label production and traditional label printing. At present, China's traditional label printing technology has a very high level. There is no lack of experienced companies in the trademark printing industry, but also produces a lot of beautifully designed and high-quality products, but for smart labels, some people think that it has no special At the same time, as long as it is covered with a beautiful label on a beautiful coat, this is not difficult for high-quality label printing companies. But simply adding a smart label with a beautiful coat is a high added value for it. Worrying, otherwise it will cause important losses. So what are the characteristics of smart label printing compared to traditional label printing? First of all, from the definition of the smart tag, smart is a radio frequency circuit composed of chips, antennas, etc.; and the tag is a tag printed process to make the radio frequency circuit have a commercial outer garment. From a printing point of view, the emergence of smart labels will bring higher gold content to traditional label printing. The chip layer of the smart label can be packaged and printed with materials such as paper, PE, PET and even textiles to make self-adhesive stickers, paper cards, hanging labels or other types of labels. The chip is the key to the smart label, and its special The structure is determined and cannot withstand the pressure of the printing press. Therefore, in addition to ink-jet printing, it is generally used to print the surface layer first, and then combined with the chip layer, die-cutting process.

The related products of smart tags have a wide application space in the areas of commodity production, storage and transportation, inventory management for sales, etc. In Japan, Hitachi, Fujitsu, and Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. have mass-produced and marketed smart tags. In the United States and Europe, major retailers, including Wal-Mart, are striving to promote the use of smart labels. In June 2004, Wal-Mart requested that RFID technology be used to manage goods in 2005, requiring its major 100 suppliers in 2005. Smart RFID tags must be used before, and within a year or two, most vendors are required to use standard smart tags. According to reports, the production of such smart labels is currently growing rapidly. In Europe, the market reached more than US$5 billion in 2005 and grew at a rate of about 40% per year. It is estimated that in 2008, the use of RFID tags worldwide will reach more than 20 billion. By then, the retail industry will fully popularize the use of RFID smart tags.

Application of intelligent packaging in food packaging

The main function of intelligent packaging in food packaging is to alert the freshness of food and ensure food safety. At present, the main basis for determining whether a packaged food is deteriorating is based on the shelf life indicated on the outer package. It is believed that as long as it is within the shelf life period, the food must be safe and fresh. However, this is often not the case. First, the shelf life of food is related to environmental factors and is different. The temperature and humidity, air circulation, etc. have a great influence on the shelf life of foods. Packaging technology, materials, etc. will also affect the shelf life. Secondly, the shelf life is not the period of food preservation. The food within the shelf life can only ensure that the food has not been degraded and cannot guarantee the original freshness and flavor of the food. The use of smart packaging technology can not only indicate whether the food is deteriorating, but also prolong the shelf life of food, so as to ensure food safety and original flavor.

In addition, some preserved foods need to be preserved at low temperatures, otherwise the bacteria inside will multiply, leading to deterioration of foods. If a new type of label that can indicate time and temperature is attached to the packaging, it can show that the food is stored at a certain temperature. how long. This kind of label is like a target for shooting. There are many rings of transparent rings. The central ring contains a chemical substance that will change with time and temperature to produce polymerization and change from transparent to black. If the packaged food is kept at a low temperature, the polymerization of the chemical is very slow. Once the temperature increases, the polymerization reaction will accelerate and the chemical will change from transparent to black. As the bacteria in foods increase with temperature and time, the degree of blackening of chemicals becomes more and more serious. When the inner ring turns dark it means that the food is no longer fresh. Consumers can use this change in the color of the label to determine if the food has been stored at high temperatures for a long time. The use of such a label facilitates targeted selection of packaged foods by consumers and avoids mistakenly selecting foods that are spoiled. Another food safety instruction packaging technique, which interacts with the gas released from the food inside the package, shows whether meat and vegetables are deteriorating. These advanced smart packaging technologies have been put into use in the United States, France, and others. Its potential business