Smart films were first mentioned in the literature in 1986, 54 the word “smart” being used in connection with selectively permeable films used for MAP. The selective permeability was created by strip lamination of HDPE and PET films, allowing CO2 to exit the package and preventing excess O2 from entering. Such films are no longer available. Smart packages were defined in 1989 65 as “doing more than just offer protection. They interact with the product, and in some cases, actually respond to changes.” According to one authority,2 “the term smart packaging was coined in the mid-1980s to describe package structures that allegedly sensed changes in the internal or academics and true (sic) researchers, concerned that the term was too juvenile, invented the term “interactive” packaging to describe the same entities and later shortened it to “active” packaging.”

    However, the term smart packaging is enjoying a renaissance in the twenty-first century and a Smart Packaging Journal 25 has been published online since mid-2002. It defines smart packaging as “the use of features of high added value that enhance the functionality of a product, notably mechanical, electronic and chemical features that improve safety and efficiency.” The journal urges readers to forget about all the numerous definitions-active, diagnostic, intelligent, smart, functional, enhancement-to describe smart packaging and accept that it is all one big continuum of functionality. It is suggested that one should think of smart as meaning clever, neat or “wow.”

    The first widely reported use of the term active packaging is generally attributed to the seminal review presented at an UE conference in Iceland in 1987 by Professor Labuza 31.33 from the University of Minnesota. He had just spent a sabbatical year at 3M working with the packaging 1986, had seen many commercial examples of active packaging. He and Curt Larson from 3M conceived the term active packaging fro his valedictory presentation to 800 scientist at 3M at the conclusion of his sabbatical year.

    Various authors have attempted to identify the origins of what is now referred to as active packaging, For example, the use of starch-based edible films (rice paper) by the ancient Chinese has been claimed as the first attempt in active packaging;16 most people would classify it as an early example of edible packaging. An expert in the area of active packaging 39 has claimed that the most obvious commencements of active packaging was the use of tinplate for cans in 1810, because the tin acts as a sacrificial anode, rapidly consuming any residual O2 in the can and dissolving to protect the iron base. He lists as a subsequent development the introduction of zinc oxide into enamel coatings to impart sulfur resistance by forming white zinc sulfide rather than the blue-black or brown tin sulfide or black iron sulfide (see Chapter 7). In this application, zinc oxide is used for cosmetic reasons and does not impact on the shelf life or organoleptic quality of canned foods.

    The patent literature abounds with ideas that could be considered active packaging, A 1938 patent 55 from a Finnish researcher described the use of iron, zinc or manganese powders to remove O2 from the headspace of cans; a 1943 patent 26 from a researcher in England described removing O2 from a container containing vacuum or gas packed food in which a metal such as iron absorbed O2 to form an oxide. In the U.S., the removal of O2 by the catalytic conversion of H2 to H2O was first described in 1955 28 and applied to spray dried milk powder initially in tinplate cans and later in laminate pouches. The package was flushed with a mixture of H2 (7%) in N2 and necessitated the use of a palladium catalyst.

    The fungistatic effectiveness of a wrapper made of RCF impregnated with sorbic acid and used to package natural and processed cheeses was reported in 1954,50 together with an alternative approach where sorbic acid was mixed into a was layer for natural cheese.35 These were probably the first antimicrobial packaging films.

    The use of enzymes and in particular glucose oxidase to remove O2 has been studied since the initial patent in 1956,42 which described the impregnation into or on a moistureproof or fabric sheet of glucose oxidase and catalase (the latter to destroy the H2O2 formed by the former). The concept of incorporating enzymes into a package material was overtly described in the 1956 patent 42 and, in 1958,43 the first publication on the use of packets or sachets of chemicals in packages to remove O2 appeared followed by one in 1961.44 A 1968 German patent 5 proposed a sodium carbonate powder to absorb O2 in food packages.

    In 1970, researchers in Australia 45 and the U.S.33 published details on the use of potassium permanganate as an ethylene absorbent in LDPE bags to delay ripening in bananas, but the approach was not widely adopted commercially for many years. In 1973, researchers in India 18 published details of fungistatic wrappers to extend food shelf life, but these were not commercialized.

    Although most of the above patents were never commercialized, they laid the groundwork for the subsequent development in Japan in 1976 20 of the iron-based O2 scavengers which are widely used today. The use in Japan of sachets containing iron powder to absorb O2 is generally regarded as the first widespread commercial application of active packaging. Intelligent packaging, of which time-temperature indicators (TTIs) represent the most well-known example, have been used commercially since at least 1971.