Your guide to food packaging courses: training courses, university courses, and more

Food packaging is all around us, enclosing our food to protect it from tampering or contamination.

Food packaging courses are designed to provide learners with a comprehensive introduction to the manufacture and production of different food packaging materials. 

You can expect to study the following key topics in food packaging courses:

• The manufacture of materials like glass, metals, plastic, and paperboard
• Potential applications of packaging materials
• Packaging defects and testing methods
• Food packaging legislation

What can you expect from food packaging courses?

Food packaging courses will aid your understanding of the variety of different materials and why they are used in terms of preservation and suitability for the product, appropriate testing methods, and understanding the development stages that go into creating packaging which meets the relevant legislation. 

The following food packaging courses involve various assessment methods to determine your final grade. These include written reports, presentations, team-based projects, exams, dissertations, and more. 

Food Technology BSc (Hons) 

Designed to equip graduates with the skills and knowledge required to enter the global food processing industry, this food packaging course explores a number of different topics related to food technology; including an analysis of the tech that goes into the developments of new food packaging methods. 

This food packaging course covers topics like the design of new food products and the packaging required to preserve their freshness and flavour for as long as possible, to the innovative creation and testing of new food packaging technology. 

This course offers a diverse scope of food tech and packaging knowledge that can be widely applied throughout the entire supply chain. 

Core modules include: 

• Food chemistry and nutrition
• Food manufacture, safety and quality
• Food microbiology
• Food packaging technology
• Data management and analysis
• Sensory perception
• Applied food science
• Food manufacture
• Food packaging design
• Food preservation
• Food processing
• Food product design
• Applied food processing
• Business improvement
• Environmental and quality management

Food and Packaging Technology (B.Eng.)

This food packaging course exposes students to the latest developments in the world of food packaging by teaching process technology, especially within the food and packaging sectors. 

With a focus on technical expertise and sustainability, students will gain skills and knowledge of the safe, hygienic, cost-effective, and sustainable manufacture of high-quality good packaging, all whilst obtaining a grounded understanding of business and effective project management methods. 

Food and Packaging Innovation MSc

This masters-level food packaging course provides learning in a number of disciplines, including food science, entrepreneurship, and product and packaging design innovation. 

Designed to enable students to explore the current technologies and theories which make the food industry what it is today, this food packaging course offers the opportunity to develop innovative food products and packaging designs. 

Learners will be developing skills which are highly transferable into a competitive career within the industry, including within key sectors like meat and dairy. 

This multidisciplinary degree enables students to obtain an in-depth understanding of food science, innovation, leadership and packaging and how this crucial knowledge can be applied in commercial settings. 

Core modules include:

• Food processing 
• Food safety and quality
• Managing innovation
• Consumers and consumption
• Food packaging materials and processes
• Managing for value creation
• Food packaging design

Packaging Technology for Non-Packaging Technologists

This food packaging course is ideal for those who have almost no knowledge in the basics of packaging such as food and packaging technologists and equipment suppliers with limited backgrounds in this specialised field. 

Designed specifically for non-packaging technologists, participants will gain a basic-yet-thorough understanding of packaging technology and the different materials that can be used to package our food and beverage products. 

This is a food packaging course which is designed to enable up-and-coming food packaging technologists to be able to make the best choices when it comes to choosing packaging for upcoming food products, ensuring they are able to consider both advantages and disadvantages when selecting a material. 

By the end of this food packaging course, participants will be able to: 

• Describe the aims and benefits of various food packaging materials
• Identify why certain materials are used in different applications
• Record at least four different testing methods which can measure a package’s strength and integrity
• Identify relevant legislation relating to materials which have contact with food products

Consumer and Environmental Safety: Food Packaging and Kitchenware

This food packaging course enables participants to understand the importance of kitchenware and packaging materials which are not only safe for people but also the environment. 

During their time in this food packaging course, students will gain an understanding of mitigation techniques used to prevent molecules from contacting materials in kitchenware into food in terms of food safety, and how these molecules can affect human health and the environment over time. 

This includes evaluating how dangerous and toxic chemicals can migrate from packaging and kitchenware to food, and how certain tests can check for safety, ultimately resulting in better food safety overall. 

Modules include:

• Food packaging, its material and the issue of migration
• Migrating chemicals: is there a health concern?
• Biotests their use in research and for monitoring
• Innovations that improve the system
• Consumers, science, health and society

Find out about roles in the food sectors, and get tips and information about the career of your future with Food Matters Live’s free Inspiring Careers in Food guide.

The Inspiring Careers in Food Guide offers an unmissable opportunity to reach your target audience. Improve your Employer Brand Awareness, promote your opportunities to the future talent of the F&B industry, and spotlight the fantastic career pathways available with your business.