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Article Tier 2

Evolution of Food Packaging and Its Effect on Human Food

This review traces the evolution of food packaging materials from ancient times to the present, covering the transition from natural materials to modern plastics and the associated concerns about chemical migration and microplastic generation. It discusses biodegradable and active packaging alternatives as part of sustainable food system innovation.

2025
Article Tier 2

Food Safety, Plastics and Sustainability

This book covers the use of plastics in food safety applications, including migration of substances from packaging into food, microplastic impacts on humans and the environment, regulations, testing methods, food packaging materials, and identification and recycling approaches.

2023 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Contamination in Food Processing: Role of Packaging Materials

This review examines how food packaging materials release microplastics into food products during production, storage, and transportation. Plastic containers, films, and wraps can shed tiny particles through mechanical wear, heat exposure, and chemical interactions with food. The findings highlight that packaging is a significant and often overlooked source of microplastic contamination in the food we eat.

2024 Food Science and Engineering 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Food Products

This chapter reviews microplastic contamination in food products, tracing the pathways by which plastic particles enter the food supply from environmental contamination, packaging leaching, and food processing. The authors discuss health concerns associated with dietary microplastic exposure and the regulatory landscape around food safety.

2024
Article Tier 2

6 Microplastics

This book chapter introduces microplastics as a challenge for sustainable packaging materials, covering sources, environmental persistence, and the transition to alternative materials. Microplastics from packaging represent a major pathway for human dietary exposure and environmental contamination.

2023
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in food packaging: Analytical methods, health risks, and sustainable alternatives

This review examines how microplastics from food packaging materials can migrate into the food we eat during storage and handling. It evaluates analytical methods for detecting this contamination and suggests biodegradable polymers as promising eco-friendly alternatives, while noting that standardized testing methods and risk assessment frameworks are still needed.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic materials used in the food industry, their influence on health, and potential solutions

This review examines how plastics used in food packaging gradually degrade into microplastics that leach into food and beverages, posing potential health risks to consumers. It surveys the main plastic types used in the food industry, the health concerns associated with microplastic and additive exposure, and proposed solutions including biodegradable alternatives. The findings underscore that everyday food packaging is a significant and underappreciated source of microplastic exposure for the general public.

2023 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Food Safety

This paper is not relevant to microplastics research — it is a broad overview of food safety topics including packaging standards, antimicrobial approvals, and food hygiene; microplastics are mentioned only in passing.

2023
Article Tier 2

Bio-based and Sustainable Food Packaging Technology: Relevance, Challenges and Prospects

A review assessed bio-based and sustainable food packaging technologies, evaluating their relevance as replacements for conventional plastic packaging that generates microplastic pollution. The study identifies the most promising materials and the barriers to scaling up plastic-free food packaging.

2025 Journal of Biomaterials 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Sustainable and Bio-Based Food Packaging: A Review on Past and Current Design Innovations

This review covers innovations in food packaging materials, including bio-based and biodegradable options, smart sensors that detect spoilage, and active packaging that extends shelf life. Understanding packaging alternatives is relevant to microplastic concerns because conventional plastic packaging is a major source of micro- and nanoplastic contamination in food.

2023 Foods 318 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluation of Possible Contaminants from Sustainable Materials Intended for Food Contact

This paper has limited direct relevance to microplastics; it evaluates chemical contaminants that can migrate from sustainable natural-material food packaging into food and beverages, though its focus is on bio-based packaging alternatives rather than plastic particle pollution.

2024 Sustainability 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastics in Food Packaging: Trends, Innovations and Environmental Impact

This review surveys the landscape of plastic food packaging — from conventional polyethylene and PET to emerging smart and biodegradable materials — examining how plastics protect food, how they degrade into microplastics, and how innovators are responding to mounting environmental pressure. It covers advanced technologies like nanomaterial-based packaging, active systems that extend shelf life, and IoT-enabled smart packaging. The paper contextualizes microplastic pollution as a growing concern driving the packaging industry toward bio-based and circular alternatives.

2025 Annual Research & Review in Biology 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental Impact of Food Packaging Materials: A Review of Contemporary Development from Conventional Plastics to Polylactic Acid Based Materials

This review examined the environmental impacts of conventional food packaging plastics and assessed biopolymer alternatives such as PLA, discussing production from renewable feedstocks, material performance properties, and the potential for bioplastics to reduce fossil plastic waste in the packaging sector.

2020 Materials 627 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Derived from Food Packaging Waste—Their Origin and Health Risks

This review examines how food packaging breaks down into microplastics made of common plastics like polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene. These packaging-derived microplastics can leach chemical additives and absorb environmental pollutants, which may then transfer into the food they contain. The findings highlight food packaging as an overlooked source of direct microplastic exposure for humans, especially through everyday items like bottles, containers, and wrappers.

2023 Materials 118 citations
Article Tier 2

A Review on Replacing Food Packaging Plastics with Nature-Inspired Bio-Based Materials

Researchers reviewed bio-based materials inspired by nature as sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based food packaging plastics. The study highlights that while conventional plastic packaging is effective for food preservation, its environmental impact has driven research into biodegradable and compostable alternatives that could reduce plastic waste and microplastic generation.

2025 Foods 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Market and Safety Analysis of Alternatives to Plastic Food Packaging

This policy study assessed the health and economic implications of switching from plastic food packaging to alternatives, noting that many substitutes are less studied and potentially carry their own health risks. It calls for rigorous safety testing of bio-based and other alternative packaging materials before widespread adoption.

2020 FSA research and evidence.
Article Tier 2

Food packaging solutions in the post‐per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and microplastics era: A review of functions, materials, and bio‐based alternatives

This review examines how food packaging made with PFAS ("forever chemicals") and conventional plastics can release harmful microplastics and chemicals into the food we eat. The study highlights promising bio-based alternatives made from plant-derived materials that could replace these hazardous packaging materials and reduce our daily exposure to microplastics through food.

2024 Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety 29 citations
Article Tier 2

Transitioning of petroleum-based plastic food packaging to sustainable bio-based alternatives

This review explores the shift from traditional petroleum-based plastic food packaging to sustainable, bio-based alternatives driven by growing environmental concerns. The transition is motivated by the need to reduce plastic pollution, though bio-based solutions must still meet food safety and performance requirements.

2024 Sustainable Food Technology 101 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence of meso/micro/nano plastics and plastic additives in food from food packaging.

This chapter reviewed the contamination of food by plastics from packaging materials, examining migration mechanisms for meso-, micro-, and nano-plastics and plastic additives, and discussing how food type, packaging material, and processing conditions influence contamination levels under current regulatory frameworks.

2023 Advances in food and nutrition research
Article Tier 2

Tackling the toxics in plastics packaging

This review addresses the issue of hazardous chemicals migrating from plastic food packaging into food, including endocrine disrupters, carcinogens, and untested synthetic compounds. The author argues that current toxicity assessment methods for packaging chemicals are inadequate and that plastic packaging is an avoidable source of dietary chemical exposure. The study calls for systemic changes in how food packaging safety is regulated to address both plastic pollution and chemical contamination.

2021 PLoS Biology 80 citations
Article Tier 2

Problems of environmental pollution with microplastic waste and ways to solve them

This review examines the widespread presence of microplastics in the environment and their impacts on ecosystems and human health. Researchers highlight the limitations of conventional plastic food packaging and propose sustainable alternatives including bioplastics, edible packaging, and traditional materials like palm leaves. The study provides practical guidelines for transitioning away from conventional plastics to reduce microplastic contamination.

2024 BIO Web of Conferences 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxicity of plastic consumer products: a biological, chemical and social-ecological analysis

This study analyzed the toxic chemicals found in consumer plastic products, including additives, monomers, and processing by-products that can leach into food or the environment. The findings highlight that plastic toxicity extends beyond microplastic particles themselves — the chemicals embedded in plastics pose significant health risks through food packaging and environmental contamination.

2021
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in human food chains: Food becoming a threat to health safety

This review traces how microplastics enter the human food chain through both animal and plant sources, food packaging, and beverages. Once consumed, microplastics can accumulate in tissues and release harmful chemicals like plasticizers and heavy metals inside the body. The study emphasizes that food has become a major exposure pathway for microplastics and calls for stricter regulation of plastic use in food production and packaging.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 542 citations
Article Tier 2

Emerging Threat of Food Contamination by Microplastics and its Influence on Safety and Human Perspective

Researchers reviewed how widespread plastic use across industry has made microplastic contamination of food a serious public health concern, with particles entering the food supply through environmental pathways including runoff, wastewater, and air. Addressing this threat requires tighter regulations, better food supply monitoring, and public education on exposure risks.

2025 International Journal of Advanced Science and Engineering