FDBusiness.com

A Scottish company has launched, what it calls, a ‘revolutionary’ new label aimed at cutting down on food waste.

Lanarkshire based Insignia Technologies, located at Biocity Scotland, said that its new label can easily be incorporated into any film lid.  The label is activated when a packet is opened and triggers a timer that changes colour as the food within loses freshness – meaning consumers can tell straight away if their snack is out of date or not.

With an estimated 18 million tonnes of edible food sent to landfill in the UK each year, Insignia Technologies said that it is hoping its packaging design will help reduce the environmental and economic impact associated with wasted food.

The Scottish business unveiled its patented Embedded Timer at the Packaging Innovations show.

According to the firm, the product has already generated interest from major supermarket chains in UK, France and USA. Insignia Technologies is now looking to roll-out its new development in food packaging technology in these key regions during 2013.

‘Freshness for the consumer’

Insignia Technologies founding director Erik Smyth said: “This is all about ensuring quality and freshness for the consumer while preventing food from going to waste. People open a packet of meat or cheese, forget how long it’s been open, and consequently may not take the risk of eating it. Our new packaging will remove this uncertainty.

“The technology development partnership with the University of Strathclyde and the funding support of Scottish Enterprise has enabled us to bring this novel low-cost timing solution to the market place.”

Insignia Technologies is also in the process of developing indicator products suitable for the likes of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals packaging, which it will look to roll-out within the next year.