Consumer demand and packaging standardization (1)

This article discusses the basic needs of consumers for packaging, analyzes the problems in packaging in China, introduces the current situation of packaging in developed countries, and focuses on the requirements of international standardization organizations for packaging, especially "children's safety packaging."

1 Consumer demand for consumer packaging

Consumer product packaging is an important part of consumer products and is closely related to the interests of consumers. With the improvement of people’s living standards and the intensification of commodity competition, consumers’ demand for commodity packaging has also increased. These requirements mainly include the following aspects:

(1) Security

The packaging should protect the personal safety of consumer goods and consumers. The packaging should be marked with notes on the safety, handling, storage, opening, use, maintenance, etc. of consumer goods. There are noticeable safety warnings and instructions for use.

(2) Health

Packaging should protect the cleanliness of consumer goods and the health of consumers. In particular, the packaging of consumer products that are closely related to human health such as foods and cosmetics has stricter hygiene requirements.

(3) Applicability and Reliability

The packaging should protect the contents from external environmental factors and be designed for easy handling, storage, opening and closing. The size and size of the packaging should be suitable for the average consumption rate of consumer goods. In particular, it should be ensured that the contents of the packaging can be consumed normally during the product's shelf life and avoid waste.

(4) Protecting the environment

The packaging should ensure that the consumer goods do not leak out and pollute the environment. The post-treatment of the packaging material itself should also be safe, convenient, and feasible, and it should not cause environmental hazards. Moreover, the packaging should be marked with waste disposal methods and precautions to protect the environment.

(5) Save resources

Packaging materials should be able to be recycled and recycled; packaging should be designed to be reusable and easy to clean.

(6) Economical

The cost of packaging is as low as possible and economical.

2 Problems in China's Consumer Goods Packaging Market

At present, China's packaging market, especially the sales packaging of consumer goods, still has many problems that are inconsistent with consumer demand:

(1) "White pollution" is serious

According to statistics, the annual consumption of plastics in China is over 6 million tons, and only the annual consumption of plastic snack boxes is over 7 billion. The "white pollution" caused by these non-degradable plastic products directly threatens the living environment of human beings.

(2) Hygienic issues in food packaging

When people buy a food, they can understand its ingredients through the labels on the packaging, but they cannot understand whether the packaging itself poses a potential threat to human health. In particular, with the advancement of science and technology, people’s lifestyle changes, and packaging that might have been harmless to human health, may now cause great harm to the human body. For example, a food science laboratory in the UK has shown that some of the dyes used in food packaging do not harm human health. However, if they are heated by microwave ovens, chemical reactions can occur, and they can cause direct contact with or spread through the food and cause pollution. . In particular, foods made by baking in microwave ovens, such as French fries, popcorn, and hamburgers, which are popular among children, deserve more attention.

(3) "Children's safety packaging" problem

According to the relevant information, many children around the world are harmed every year by toxic, dangerous chemicals such as drugs, liquid fuels, strong acids or alkalis. In the United States, according to a 1985 survey, there were 60,000 such cases in the same year.

How many children in China are poisoned by mistakenly taking drugs, chemicals, etc. is still unknown. According to preliminary investigations, more than 30 cases of children who have been seriously poisoned by the emergency center of the Beijing Children's Hospital due to misuse of drugs have been treated each year. This figure does not include many non-hospitalized children with mild poisoning. From the figures provided by the Beijing Children's Hospital to the whole country, it is not difficult to imagine the universality of children's misuse of drugs and chemicals and poisoning.

To prevent such incidents, one of the measures taken by many countries is the use of children's safe packaging, that is, the special packaging of certain toxic drugs and chemicals. Its design structure makes it difficult for children under 5 years of age to open for a certain period of time. Or difficult to remove. There are hundreds of millions of children in China, and most of them are rural children. Children's safe packaging is an issue that cannot be ignored.

(4) Economic problems of consumer product packaging

The "luxury packaging" and "big packaging" are common in the market. For example, high-end, expensive luxury “Mid-Autumn” mooncakes that are listed during the Mid-Autumn Festival each year; “lipstick” and “salad dressing” that are difficult to consume during the shelf life period have aggravated the financial burden on consumers.