Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via G. Celoria 2, 20133 Milan, Italy.
Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via G. Celoria 2, 20133 Milan, Italy.
Sci Total Environ. 2018 Jun 15;627:997-1007. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.301. Epub 2018 Feb 3.
Over the last years, increasing attention has been paid to environmental concerns related to food production and potential solutions to this issue. Among the different strategies being considered to reduce the impact food production has on the environment, only moderate has been paid to the extension of shelf life; a longer shelf life can reduce food losses as well as the economic and environmental impacts of the distribution logistics. The aim of this study is to assess the environmental performance of whole-wheat breadsticks with extended shelf lives and to evaluate whether the shelf-life extension is an effective mitigation solution from an environmental point of view. To this purpose, the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach was applied from a "cradle-to-grave" perspective. Rosmarinic acid was used as an antioxidant to extend the shelf life. To test the robustness of the results and to investigate the influence of the choices made in the modelling phase, a sensitivity and uncertainty analysis were carried out. The achieved results highlighted how, for 10 of the 12 evaluated impact categories, the shelf-life extension is a proper mitigation solution, and its effectiveness depends on the magnitude of product loss reduction that is achieved. The shelf-life extension doesn't allow for the reduction of environmental impact in the categories of human toxicity, cancer effects and freshwater eutrophication.
近年来，人们越来越关注与食品生产相关的环境问题以及解决这些问题的潜在方案。在考虑的诸多减少食品生产对环境影响的策略中，仅有适度关注延长保质期的策略；延长保质期可以减少食物损耗以及分销物流的经济和环境影响。本研究旨在评估延长保质期的全麦面包棒的环境性能，并评估从环境角度来看，保质期延长是否是一种有效的缓解措施。为此，采用了从“摇篮到坟墓”的角度进行生命周期评估（LCA）的方法。使用迷迭香酸作为抗氧化剂来延长保质期。为了测试结果的稳健性并研究建模阶段选择的影响，进行了敏感性和不确定性分析。所获得的结果表明，在 12 个评估的影响类别中的 10 个类别中，保质期延长是一种合适的缓解措施，其有效性取决于实现的产品损失减少的程度。保质期延长并不能减少人类毒性、癌症效应和淡水富营养化等类别的环境影响。
