FitNESS: An E-Learning Platform to Design Safe and Responsible Food Packaging

Abstract

The paradoxical situation concerning packaging materials as major sources of environmental pollution and food contamination highlights the need for a comprehensive educational approach. Polymer chemistry, food technologies, and packaging education have remained compartmentalized, favoring particular viewpoints and deflecting from the overarching problems. The collaborative project FitNESS, funded by the European Commission under the ERASMUS+ program, aims to bridge this gap by providing a robust online knowledge base accessible on all screens for current and future food packaging. The goal is to raise awareness among all professions involved through basic courses and to effectively enhance the knowledge and skills of professionals or future professionals through advanced courses on health and toxicological assessment, sustainability of packaging, multiple criteria design of safe and responsible packaging, and polymer science. New circular economy practices (reduce, collect, recycle, reuse) are particularly addressed in relation to the shelf life of food products and the risks of wastage. The content of the open-source and clonable platform (https://FitNESS.agroparistech.fr) stands as one of the most significant sources of educational content validated by more than a dozen European institutions, featuring online exercises and links to packaging design and calculation tools.