This Food-tech Startup has developed an Edible Coating from Silk to Replace Plastic Packaging

In the food industry, plastic packaging is often used to preserve meats and produce. While there has been an urge to discard plastic and its products for many years to conserve the environment, but no one had come with an alternative to it, especially in the food industry.  

While many researchers are still trying to find out the solution to the problem, a food-tech startup called Cambridge Crops Inc. has developed an edible and imperceptible coating to preserve meats and other produce, which could be used as an alternative to plastic packaging. The company is based in Somerville, Massachusetts.  

Moreover, the edible coating has been made up using silk as a core ingredient. The coating will not only be preserving the food but will also extend the shelf life of all sorts of perishable foods. However, one should not confuse the coating with silk threads used in the textile industry. The edible coating has been developed in a water-based solution made with silk molecules.  

How Does the Edible Coating Work? 

Cambridge Crops aims at making healthy food more accessible by keeping it fresher and longer. The company utilizes a proprietary and efficient process using only water and salt to isolate and reform the silk’s natural protein. With its core technology, the company renders silk invisible while retaining its key molecular properties.  

As it is a solution, the coating can be applied quickly and easily to any shape, size, or texture by dunking or spraying. After the solution deposits itself on the surface of food, the silk coating becomes tasteless, odorless, and imperceptible. It slows down the food’s natural degradation mechanisms, hence adding more time in its shelf life. The coating can be applied even on whole and cut produce, seafood, poultry, and meat. Depending on the food item, the result can show up to a 200 percent increase in shelf life.