It’s a Wrap

A new edible food wrap might put the kabosh on plastic sandwich bags

Suppose you could have your sandwich wrapping, and eat it, too?

Well, that’s been made possible by Tara McHugh, a researcher at the USDA’s California Agricultural Research Service in Albany, working in collaboration with a private company.

McHugh has developed an edible food wrap that looks like paper but is made from concentrated puree from fruits and vegetables, including apple, mango, broccoli, and tomato. Each wrap is equal to a one-quarter serving of fruit or vegetables.

“The wraps are a way to help people eat more fruits and vegetables, and add value to agricultural commodities—they are an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic wrap and aluminum foil,” says McHugh.

Perhaps not quite as appetizing as wolfing down your sandwich wrap is that some of the wraps have antimicrobial properties. Those properties come from natural and even flavorful ingredients such as oregano and cinnamon, and help combat food-borne pathogens such as E. coli and salmonella.

A small but growing number of food manufacturers have developed modifications of the wrap and sell their products at such stores as Trader Joe’s and Costco. McHugh is working on an edible straw, to be available within a year.

All this gives new meaning to finishing everything in your lunchbox.