SERDANG – A total of 196 participants from the United States, Brunei, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia have participated in a webinar on ‘Covid-19 and Food Packaging: Driving Trend of F&B Paper-Based Packaging’, organised by the Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products (INTROP), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) recently.
The webinar was held to discuss the various issues related to the packaging paper sector, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Three speakers spoke on three different topics. Dr. Ainun Zuriyati Mohamed @ Asa'ari from INTROP, UPM, presented a talk on the 'Rising Demand for Environmental-Friendly Packaging to Mitigate Adverse Pandemic IMPACT', and Associate Prof. Dr. Nur Hanani Zainal Abidin from the Faculty of Food Science and Technology, UPM, spoke about the 'Current Trends of Paper-Based Packaging for Food Applications'. Meanwhile, Prof. Dr. Rukman Awang Hamat from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, UPM, gave a talk on 'Food Poisoning Amid Covid-19 Pandemic: Public Favour or Fear?'.
The webinar moderator was Assoc. Prof. Dato' Dr. H'ng Paik San from the Laboratory of Biopolymer and Derivative (BADs), INTROP.
The hit of the Covid-19 pandemic on Malaysia early last year had also severely affected the industrial sectors worldwide.
The packaging paper sector was seriously affected when facing difficulties and challenges with raw material shortages against the high demand for papers needed for e-commerce activities and online purchases, especially for food and beverages packaging.
Delivery of food to consumers gave rise to safety concerns with regard to infection.
It raised awareness among consumers for the need for packaging papers that are designed with smart features or elements with additional antimicrobial security.
56 local participants who took part in the webinar were representatives from various companies, universities, private institutes, agencies, pulp and paper industries, banks, research institutes, hospitals and polytechnics.
All the participants hoped that a similar webinar as such would be held again. - UPM
