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Potential of dairy-based package wraps outlined 25 Jan 2010

Food-packaging products made from dairy ingredients could provide a viable alternative to petroleum-based packaging products.
Potential of dairy-based package wraps outlined
A new book, “Dairy-Derived Ingredients: Food and Nutraceutical Uses,” written by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist Peggy Tomasula, serves as a guide to new developments for the dairy and nutraceutical industries, as well as researchers in those fields.
 
 Tomasula works at the ARS Eastern Regional Research Center (ERRC) in Wyndmoor, Pa., where scientists are developing strong, biodegradable dairy-based films that are better oxygen barriers than petrochemical-based films. Tomasula leads the center’s Dairy Processing and Products Research Unit.  
 
Most food packages are made of multilayer films that are thin, continuous sheets of synthetic polymers. However, consumers and food retailers are concerned about the waste generated during the manufacture of such packaging. Many, it seems, are interested in replacing petroleum-based packaging with biobased packaging. 
 
Tomasula’s chapter in the new book is titled “Using Dairy Ingredients to Produce Edible Films and Biodegradable Packaging Materials.” The chapter focuses on films made from dairy proteins, with an emphasis on those based on casein and whey, the major proteins found in milk. It also covers research efforts to improve the proteins' mechanical and barrier properties so that these natural materials eventually could be used in a variety of future applications.
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