Today, disposable food packaging containers have gained wide acceptance all over the world because of their extensive applicability in varied industries and households. When catering for functions, such as birthday party, anniversary, wedding or business conference, use of disposable containers makes great sense. Further, disposable plates, bowls, cups and other types of food container provide an option of eating away from home without disturbing the nutritional value of eatables. World’s major food and beverage industries prefer the disposable packaging to avoid washing trouble.

Present Scenario

Presently, many major industries are heavily depended on disposable packaging for supplying their food products to the customers. The market of disposable plastic containers is rapidly growing particularly in coffee shops, restaurants, hotels, households, institutions, offices and hospitals. This growing importance has led to improvement in techniques for producing attractive and hygienic products. Attractive packaging is not the only point being focused, but the hygienic aspect is also given priority.

Industries utilizing Disposable Food packaging are as follows:

• Railways/rail way canteens
• Airline and Shipping Industry
• Ice cream manufacturers
• Hotels and canteens
• Fruit juice makers
• Jam, Jelly and Ketchup manufacturers
• Pickle manufacturers
• Fast food manufacturers
• Dairy industries
• Processed food industries
• Self vending machines
• Mineral water industries
• Pharmaceutical industries
• Detergent industries

Benefits of using Disposable Food packaging

Some major advantages of using Disposable Food Packaging are as follows:

1. Sanitation and Health Advantage

Usage of disposable food service packaging is a great step towards preventing food-borne diseases. As they are used only once thus these products significantly lower the food contamination and spread of diseases.

Disposable packaging is apt for the establishments where proper cleaning & sanitizing facilities for kitchenware and tableware are not available. U.S. Food & Drug Administration spells out that “in situations where reusing multiuse items can cause food borne illness to consumers, single-use articles (disposable packaging) must be used”

2. Water & Energy Savings

The industrial size dishwashing units used by the restaurants consume approximately 7 gallons of 150 degree F to 180 degree F water per minute. From these figures we can easily calculate that gallons of water & energy are being used by the restaurants and households for washing utensils every day across the world. In such case, concept of disposable food containers should be widely adopted to save the precious water and energy resource.

3. Prevents Food Spoilage

The disposable food packaging is insulated which helps in keeping the food hot for a long period of time. Thus, chances for food getting tossed because of inadequate temperature or food spoilage get decrease to a great extent.

4. Convenience

The convenience while using disposable containers at no added cost is very important. Many food packaging are washed out and used over & over again in the households for leftover storage. They are microwave safe also that facilitates convenience in further home reuse.

5. Worker Safety

Single-use (disposable) food service packaging is very light weight which lowers the risk of worker accidents like back pain. Further, the risks of scratches and cuts that can cause due to usage of glassware and chipped permanent items also get decreases by many folds. Establishments must adopt disposable packaging to provide a safe working environment to their workers.

Disposable food packaging is also an appropriate choice for the people who are concerned about the environment. Such packaging helps in reducing human impact on the environment to a great extent. The materials used in manufacturing such containers are easy to recycle, thus do not put strain on the natural resources. Adopt them, enjoy the freedom and save the environment.