Don't panic, but packaging is starting to answer back. It may seem a bit like something out of Minority Report, but the day when food and drink packs start talking to shoppers isn't far off. In fact, we're already taking for granted those clever Duracell batteries that let you know when they've run out.
In their wake is a range of hi-tech ideas that could revolutionise the packaging industry and make shoppers' lives easier. Packs are already being made which incorporate "magic" inks that can react to temperature, such as the star on Newcastle Brown Ale bottles, chemicals or viruses. The findings can even be spelled out  so if food has been tainted by a bacteria the package could read: "Don't eat this, it might kill you."
There's more. Technology companies are working on a hair dye that comes with a disposable timer in the packaging  you pinch it when you put the dye on and it beeps at the correct time. Peter Harrop, chairman of IDTechEx consultants, says that as the cost comes down we could see this technology in products such as Pot Noodles. The packaging would sense the boiling water and set its disposable timer to tell you when it's cooked.
According to Harrop, there are already labels in the US that can automatically tell the microwave how to cook the food, while pharmaceutical packs for blind and partially-sighted people communicate electronically to explain what drug it is, who it it is for and the dosage required.
A spin-off from smart labels is smart products, such as patches to tell you that you are about to get sunburnt.
Although magic ink labels cost only a few pence, electronic labels cost between 60p-£2 each and are too much for most food products. But Harrop says as volume increases production costs will lower and he believes retailers will want to stock them because of their novelty value.
So far, however, the UK lags behind other countries and Ron Pidgeon, editor of Packaging Magazine, says the main reason is cost. "That's why major chains disbanded their packaging technology departments. They've handed that side of innovation back to the packer fillers, who are under pressure on cost and less likely to be innovative."
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In their wake is a range of hi-tech ideas that could revolutionise the packaging industry and make shoppers' lives easier. Packs are already being made which incorporate "magic" inks that can react to temperature, such as the star on Newcastle Brown Ale bottles, chemicals or viruses. The findings can even be spelled out  so if food has been tainted by a bacteria the package could read: "Don't eat this, it might kill you."
There's more. Technology companies are working on a hair dye that comes with a disposable timer in the packaging  you pinch it when you put the dye on and it beeps at the correct time. Peter Harrop, chairman of IDTechEx consultants, says that as the cost comes down we could see this technology in products such as Pot Noodles. The packaging would sense the boiling water and set its disposable timer to tell you when it's cooked.
According to Harrop, there are already labels in the US that can automatically tell the microwave how to cook the food, while pharmaceutical packs for blind and partially-sighted people communicate electronically to explain what drug it is, who it it is for and the dosage required.
A spin-off from smart labels is smart products, such as patches to tell you that you are about to get sunburnt.
Although magic ink labels cost only a few pence, electronic labels cost between 60p-£2 each and are too much for most food products. But Harrop says as volume increases production costs will lower and he believes retailers will want to stock them because of their novelty value.
So far, however, the UK lags behind other countries and Ron Pidgeon, editor of Packaging Magazine, says the main reason is cost. "That's why major chains disbanded their packaging technology departments. They've handed that side of innovation back to the packer fillers, who are under pressure on cost and less likely to be innovative."
{{ANALYSIS }}
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