Bread packaging: features and functions

Bread shelf-life can be extended by means of various packaging solutions. Traditionally, packaging materials had to be as inert as possible (“passive” packaging), and bread was protected by the main causes of spoilage, such as oxygen and molds, mostly by films made of synthetic polymers with low gas permeability, also coupled with the modification of headspace atmosphere. More recently, a new concept was developed to allow packaging to interact with food, after a provisional safety evaluation. “Active” and “intelligent” packaging, therefore, are made of functional materials deliberately interacting with bread for extending or monitoring its shelf-life, respectively. Nanopackaging systems are also under study and, to accomplish environmental requirements, biodegradable and edible films have been set up, all reviewed in this Chapter. Adequate bread packaging, coupled with interventions on formulation, can increase bread shelf-life up to 60 days, but can such a product really substitute “our daily bread”?