Food packaging

Background notes

Students can complete these activities either in pairs, small groups or individually. They can also be completed as homework assignment. Students can work at their own pace and make their own decisions as to the complexity of the task. The teacher can therefore ‘float’ about from student to student making suggestions and lifting those students who can be stretched and assisting those finding difficulty.

The brief is to design and manufacture food packaging for either hot or cold food.

Students will need to consider the shape of the food packaging as well as the materials from which it is to be made. Remind students that good design comes from analysing existing products and exploring what makes them successful. At the initial stages the name, identity and colour scheme of the packaging is not important as the type of meal will be revealed as students work through the activities.

Suggested time: 3 hours maximum (with homework)

Resources

Teaching sequence

Part 1 – Product analysis

Ask students to carry out a product analysis of five existing packages, for example pizza box / breakfast juice carton / sandwich container / egg carton / chocolates / cereal.

Students will notice that most of the packaging is a mixture of plastic wrapper, card box and paper. Each material has been chosen for specific reasons. Ask students to think about the different packages and complete a product analysis, recording their answers on Activity sheet 1. An example has been completed for students on the Activity sheet.

Part 2 – Specification

Use the Standards below:

BS 1683 Specification for coated aluminium foil for wrapping processed cheese.
BS 3755 Methods of test for the assessment of odour from packaging materials used for foodstuffs.
BS 4879 Specification for waxed board for packaging ice cream and frozen confectionary.
BS 6890 Method for determination of grease resistance of paper and board.
BS EN 646 Paper and board intended to come into contact with foodstuffs – colour fastness.
BS EN 1086 Sacks for the transport of food aid. Recommendations on the selection of type of sack and the liner in relation to the product to be packed.
BS EN 1230-1 Paper and board intended for contact with foodstuffs. Sensory analysis. Odour.
Packaging Case Study
(File type: Adobe Acrobat document, File size: 235kb)

Using this information, students should complete a five point specification for two of the packages that they have previously analysed, using Activity sheet 2. The specification needs to state the reasons why the package has to fit certain Standards. Remind students that they can find some clues in the information they recorded for their product analysis on Activity sheet 1. In the third part of the specification, students should enter the number of the British Standard their package conforms to (an example has been completed on the Specification Activity sheet).

Encourage students to think about sustainability and explore the idea of sustainable alternatives – these could be more costly. Discuss why some manufacturers, for example, use expensive packaging.

Part 3 – Introduction to nets and tessellation

Show students Activity sheet 3, which contains three nets from common packages:

Fast food fries container
Supermarket sandwich container
Chocolate box

Lay planning is the method in manufacturing that looks after the management of waste, i.e. making sure the arrangements of the nets to be cut out from a large sheet of material are laid out sensibly and minimise the waste card left behind. Ensure that students are aware of this process, and see if they can complete their own lay plan for each of the five nets. Inform students that a small gap of 3mm should automatically exist between each net they cut, as this represents the area of the cutting tool used in the process.

Part 4 – Material investigation of paper and card

Encourage students to carry out a soak test on some card samples. An example of a soak test can be accessed here. The card samples could be credit card size. If possible, grip wet card (with masking tape placed along each narrow end) in a tensometer. Each card needs to be dipped in water for certain periods of time. Students should start at three minutes and increase in minute stages. Students should then slowly apply weights to the card sample until it fails. The weights can be applied to masking tape that has been attached to the narrow end of the card with a hole punched in it. Ask students to record their results and discuss conclusions. Remind them that these results will form an important part of the decision-making process for their packaging design.

Part 5 – BSI investigation to Standards associated with food safety and packaging and discussion of what makes a suitable hot food container

Ensure students are aware that whether a food is hot or cold is of primary concern to a package designer as the temperature will affect the physical properties of the material used. For example cold temperatures make things brittle and they can snap easily as a result. Hot temperatures tend to draw moisture out into material and things start to go floppy and tear easily. Encourage students to think about how hot food is often served in metal trays and cold food such as ice creams in plastic containers. Remind students that the material may not need to last a long time anyway as often the packaging is to be thrown away as soon as the item of food has been consumed.

Below are some specific Standards to which certain materials need to adhere in order that they don’t fail. Ensure that students are aware of these before they begin to design their package.

BS 1683 Specification for coated aluminium foil for wrapping processed cheese.
BS 4879 Specification for waxed board for packaging ice cream and frozen confectionary.
BS EN 646 Paper and board intended to come into contact with foodstuffs – colour fastness.
BS EN 1230-1 Paper and board intended for contact with foodstuffs. Sensory analysis. Odour.
Packaging Case Study
(File type: Adobe Acrobat document, File size: 235kb)

Students should then choose two cards/papers for their package and state the reasons why they think them suitable to hold both hot food and cold food respectively. Decisions and reasoning for the different packaging should come from the result of their previous tests and product analysis. Students can enter their decisions and descriptions on Activity sheet 4.

Part 6 – Make a box

Ask students to design a net, to fit on no larger than a sheet of A3 paper, to contain one food item from these lists.

Hot food

Pizza
Chinese food
Kebab
Burger
Fish and chips
Hot pie
French fries

Chilled or Cold food

Ice cream
Iced lolly
Cream-filled cake
Biscuits
Filled roll
Fruit

Package Specification

Discuss Standard BS EN 646 Paper and board intended to come into contact with foodstuffs – colour fastness, with students as a class.

The food packaging needs to be designed to carry enough food for one person on the move.
The packaging will need a handle.
The packaging should, if possible, have a built-in lid to keep food either hot or cold.
The packaging ought to have room on the outside surfaces to show the name of the product, and the important information about the product; price/weight/nutritional information and producer’s address.
The package needs to be made from a single net or alternatively, the package could be made from two nets that are then assembled together when the food is prepared and served.

Students should now complete a final design for each of the pieces of packaging they have chosen. The designs will need to be in full colour and may need to be shown on more than two or three sheets of paper. The designs are to be high quality and show the net design and an impression of the final object itself being used.

Alternatively, students could complete their final designs for both the hot and cold food packaging on Techsoft 2D design tools and complete the lay planning process mentioned in Part 3. Having worked out the lay planning on a large-scale, students may cut out the final design and produce a prototype of the package. If the facilities are available, you could assist students in the production of a prototype by cutting or using a plotter or laser mac