Packaging Material and Food

Traditionally, beer bottles are made of glass -- a packaging material that has been around for thousands of years. Glass has been used to bottle beer since the early 20th century (Brody, Bugusu, Han, et al., 2008). Recently, Miller Brewing company became one of the first big-name brewing companies to use plastic instead of glass for beer bottles. Plastic has been shunned in beer packaging because of plastic is just porous enough to allow carbon dioxide gas to escape, also allowing oxygen in -- thereby spoiling the beer. Nanotechnology has allowed the carbonated beverage industry and beer firms specifically to capitalize on the lightweight and unbreakable features of plastic without sacrificing product shelf life or quality. Clay is the most common nanoparticle type used in the manufacture of plastic beer bottles. The addition of clay to the plastic extends the shelf life of the product to about six months (Silvestre & Cimmino, 2013). Clay nanoparticles are "dispersed throughout the plastic," which makes the product "lighter, stronger, and more heat-resistant," too ("Food Packaging Using Nanotechnology Methods: an Overview of 'Smart Packaging' and 'Active Packaging' n.d.). Moreover, the clay nanoparticles expand their surface area when they are embedded in the plastic, and their use reduces the amount of plastic that has to be used ("Nano in packaging," n.d.). Therefore, clay nanotechnology strengthens the PET plastic and reduces permeability, a tremendous boon over traditional plastics.

The use of nanoparticles in plastic bottles and other food packaging materials can also make these materials "active," rather than simply "passive barriers designed to delay the adverse effects of the environment on the food product," (Brody, Bugusu, Han, et al., 2008, p. 1). Although clay nanoparticles do not create an active material, the future of beer bottles may use nanoparticles that do create an active barrier. When a product is infused with nanotechnology beyond simply clay particles, those particles can interact with the environment to delay oxidation, or absorb oxygen rather than just create a more impenetrable barrier. This would be the next phase of beer bottle packaging.