Conference to tackle key issues in food packaging

The Fraunhofer Institute, a research centre devoted to process engineering and packaging, is holding its annual conference, Packaging and Pharmaceuticals - Science for Compliance, to be held in Friesling, Germany from 27-28 May.

Because food and beverage items are so sensitive they put high demands on packaging materials and require a high level of product safety. The ongoing European harmonisation or regulatory matters in the area of packaging materials is posing a considerable challenge for the packaging industry.

Such issues require continuous attention with regards development in the field and this is particularly so for the global economies. Applied science can play a key role in bringing together industrial efforts on product safety and quality assurance and the regulatory work undertaken by the EU and by the Food and Drug Administration in the US. The Fraunhofer Institute works in conjunction with these organisations and the food and beverage industry to provide research resources to tackle such issues.

The conference itself will give an overview of the current regulatory and legislative position and will present the views of different industries. The focus will centre on ongoing research programmes, activities and examples of successful implementation. The first part of the conference includes key lectures with participants from the European Commission, the European Commission joint research centre and the American Food and Drug Administration.

Experts from the plastics and paper industries as well as Fraunhofer researchers will give an overview of successful research studies into industrial migration testing and packaging development.

The conference will also provide a forum for debate on key issues within the industry as well as promoting future joint applied research work for the benefit of both industry and consumers. The detailed conference programme can be found on the organisation's website, www.ivv.fraunhofer.de​.