What Do Consumers Think About Employing Nanotechnology in Food Packaging?

Abstract

Food packaging is essential in food preservation and distribution. This sector is constantly evolving to develop more sustainable packaging materials with greater functionality to guarantee quality and food safety. In line with this, nanotechnology is being widely studied for its high potential to improve different packaging aspects. As the use of new technologies can influence consumers product acceptance, it is essential to determine consumer perceptions. This work aimed to evaluate consumer opinion about different food packaging types for which nanotechnology is used to improve some of their properties. First a literature review was performed to determine which applications are fully developed or being developed with a high potential to be implemented into food packaging for different purposes. The most important ones were selected for covering different functionalities and food types. Second a consumer opinion and purchase intention study was conducted with a survey (713 valid cases) to evaluate these applications and to assess neophobia to new technologies. The results showed that the population had a medium level of neophobia. The least neophobic consumers and those with more nanotechnology knowledge better valued each product. All products with nanotechnology in their packaging obtained positive evaluations. The best valued applications were those which provided information about food quality/safety (time-temperature indicator or cold chain loss), while the worst valued were those in which nanomaterials interacted with food (active packaging).

Keywords: Food packaging, Nanotechnology, Spanish consumers, new technologies, neophobia