September 15, 2014 Industry news
An innovative idea for food produce labels could see a change in the way that we shop for fresh items.
The labels were designed by 23-year-old Solveiga Pakstaite, who graduated from Brunel University with a degree in industrial design and technology. It is hoped that the tags may come to reduce food wastage by replacing sell-by dates on fresh items, which can often prove to be unreliable.
According to the UN, food waste has become a large problem, with around seven million tonnes of produce being thrown away in Britain alone. Globally, the figure is close to 100 million tonnes.
The wastage also has a financial impact on consumers’ households, with it being estimated that near half of the food items that are thrown away could have in fact been eaten. This means that the average UK family is discarding around £700 worth of food annually. Best before and use-by dates are said to contribute to this amount, due to the confusion that they sometimes cause.
Pakstaite came up with the idea for the gelatine labels while working on designs that could help blind people in their daily lives, but soon realised that it could have other applications as well.
The food tags work by slowly degrading over time. When applied to food produce, it is flat, showing that the item has only recently been processed. However, it will start to degrade, which will lead to bumps and ridges appearing. The bumpier the label, the longer it has been sitting on shop shelves or in kitchen cupboards.