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An Anonymous Coward writes:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2016/08/24/within-3-years-you-could-eat-your-foods-packaging-too/89255634/ [usatoday.com]

Picture this: Three years from now, you open the fridge and unwrap a package of string cheese. You eat it. It tastes better, somehow, than the ones you ate as a kid. Then you eat the packaging. And your body thanks you for it.

That’s the near-future envisioned by researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture who are developing environmentally friendly food packaging made from milk protein, the American Chemical Society announced this week.

The material could replace the thin plastic film now stretched around blocks of cheese, packages of steaks and other foods at your supermarket. The kicker: This protein-based packaging isn’t just biodegradable and edible – it keeps food fresher than plastic, too.

The film’s protein, casein, bonds tightly, creating a packaging that’s up to 500 times more effective than plastics at keeping oxygen away from food, researchers said. That means the packaging is better for the earth and better for your food, and it can be eaten, they said.

Dr. Laetitia Bonnaillie, a co-leader of the study, expects to see the casein packaging hit store shelves within three years.

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