Investigating the Awareness of Food and Beverage Consumers Regarding the Types of Packaging

Subject Areas : Microbiology

mohammad mahdavi mazdeh ¹ , nima fakhim hashemi ²

1 - استادیار دانشگاه علم و صنعت ایران،دانشکده مهندسی صنایع، تهران، ایران
2 - دانش آموخته کارشناسی ارشد دانشگاه علم و صنعت ایران،دانشکده مهندسی صنایع، تهران، ایران

Received: 2013-11-23 Accepted : 2014-01-12 Published : 2014-06-22

Keywords: Glass Containers (Bottle and J, Metal Containers, Packaging Foods and Drinks (Be, Plastic Bottles (PET), Research methods, Tetra Pak,

Abstract :

Introduction: Foods and beverages are usually packed in glass, metal, multi-layered paper and plastic containers. Nevertheless, during recent decades, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) containers have been increasingly used for packing not only beverages but also foods.Considering the importance of this issue that has a direct relationship with human health and bioenvironmental issues, this research is concerned with consumers' awareness in respect of advantages and disadvantages of packing types of foods and drinks. Moreover, the criteria for appropriate packing were investigated from consumer’s viewpoint.Materials and Methods: The applied tool of this research was a researcher-made questionnaire, that was prepared considering the ideas of the experts of this field along with structured interviews and the reliability was confirmed by the experts of this industry.Results: The results of the present work indicated that, although a large number of consumers are relatively aware of the disadvantages of PET containers, but it is inevitable not to use them.Conclusion: Lightness, ease of use, non-fragility, availability and inexpensiveness along with being the sole option in the market were some reasons for more usage of PET containers as compared to other packing containers. In terms of drinking water (mineral water) and beverages, lack of any other alternative products was the main reasons for using these containers.