How USDA Edible Casein Plastic can be Waterproof using Nanoparticles of Cellulose or Chitin

“Everything is in smaller and smaller packaging, which is great for grabbing for lunch, for school, but then it generates so much waste. Edible packaging can be great for that.”

USDA researcher Dr. Laetitia Bonnaillie commenting on their plastic wraps made from milk protein casein

Plastic wrap may soon be a thing of the past thanks to milk, of all things. This is a much needed upgrade may became a story you tell your grandchildren; how cows were saved thanks to their milk being used to make edible plastic.

The US Department of Agriculture researchers have developed a Plastic wrap made out milk as noted in the article “Edible milk­based film preserves food better than plastic”, published August 22 2016, by David Lumb, Engadget.

It also prevents food from spoiling much better than plastic wrap as noted in “A new biodegradable film made out of casein is being researched”, published August 23 2016 by Brittany Vincent, Popular Science.

Interestingly, because the main ingredient is casein, the researcher realized that they could add sugars, vitamins and flavorings to make it edible. This is lot like Saltwater Brewery's Edible Beer Packaging being used on their six-packs of beer as noted in my blog article entitled “How Saltwater Brewery's Edible Beer Packaging will reduce Plastic in the Sea”.

So how did they make plastic wrap from milk?

USDA Edible Plastic from Milk - Nanoparticles of cellulose or chitin naturally waterproof

The researchers, led by USDA researcher Dr. Laetitia Bonnaillie, found that casein, a protein found in milk, could be combined in powder form with water to make a new packaging material. To improve strength, they added glycerol to soften it and citrus pectin to resist humidity and high temperatures.

This leads to some interesting packaging options for products such as coffee or soup packets; just toss the packet into water instead of throwing it away to create an environmental nuisance.

Far better way to take care of plastic, instead of after the fact as noted in my blog article entitled “How JA$100 for recycling 500ml Plastic bottles and Styrofoam Ban will save Jamaica's Environment”.

Even the plastic wrapping for single-serve products like Chocolates ice creams and pizza slices could be made edible. This potential reduces another form of pollution that's as bad as microbeads, which will be banned from soaps, detergents and body scrubs in the USA by 2016 as noted in my blog article entitled “How US microbeads ban by 2017 means NEPA ban coming to protect Coral Reefs”.

This is also a drawback; its water soluble nature means that other edible emulsifiers that a hydrophobic will have to be added. Once such candidate is plant cellulose in plants or the protein chitin found in krill, which can be broken down into nanoparticles and woven into the fabric of such containers to make it less water soluble.

The might make the containers a little rigid and also crunchy. Still, we may have to wait years as noted in the article “Milk, Not Plastic, Will Protect Food in the Future”, published August 22nd 2016 by Amrith Ramkumar, Bloomberg, before we can eat these fibrous edible wrapping plastics, with nature as our guide!