Design of a functional box for take-away pizza

Pizza is one of the world-famous Italian dishes because of its simplicity, taste, nutritional value and low cost. It is usually consumed at specialized vending points, which also offer a take-away service. The packaging must guarantee adequate protection against rapid temperature decrease and water vapour elimination, to maintain quality. In this paper the performance of a traditional corrugated cardboard container is compared with that of a new package, realized with expanded polystyrene and a water-absorbing polymer. The tests performed (water absorption, WVTR, thermal insulation and sensory profile) showed that the new packaging was better than the traditional one. The 'consumption life' of take-away pizza was increased, allowing the product to reach consumers nearly in the same condition in which it left the oven: warm and not softened. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & sons, Ltd.