Dive Brief:
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While produce has been a more or less tactile purchase in the past, where shoppers could touch, feel and smell fruits and vegetables to decide what to purchase, packaging is increasingly being added for safety purposes, according to an article in The Packer.
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Packaging on produce helps with branding and traceability, experts say. A bagged head of cauliflower both indicates brand and where the vegetable came from. Additionally, new packaging technology can tell retailers and consumers when produce is fresh or if it is tainted with a pathogen.
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Adding packaging may also help with disclosure programs and requirements, including the pending mandatory GMO labeling initiative, and the voluntary disclosure of information through the Grocery Manufacturers Association's SmartLabel.
Dive Insight:
The idea of not being able to walk up to an apple display and handle them could be truly off-putting. Then consider the eww factor: Who touched that apple before? While other people handling apples may not contaminate them, there is no guaranteeing that open produce will always be safe.
Ultimately, the cost of adopting smart packaging could save money by preventing product loss. Heat within packages of produce can result in product deterioration, which could lead to inferior products or consumer illness. Multi-packs like tomato packers use can help, but they might not work for apple packers, or producers of squash or onions.
Labels can also give consumers more information — some of which will need to be available soon. Under the new GMO labeling law, products will need to have GMO disclosures. Regulations are being developed to direct exactly how that will be done for produce. Some packaged GMO produce is already for sale, and currently uses a QR code — which is OK by the new law — for its disclosure. In the near future, genetically modified potatoes and pineapples may be for sale in grocery stores, so producers will need to be planning for those disclosures as well.