(Not So) Secret Lives of Food Packaging

Anne Murcott is Honorary Professorial Research Associate, at SOAS, University of London, Professor Emerita at London South Bank University and Honorary Professor of Sociology at the University of Nottingham, UK. In 2009 she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Uppsala, Sweden. Her most recent book is the textbook The Sociology of Food & Eating (2019).

• List of Illustrations Preface and AcknowledgementsPart One: Putting Food Packaging Centre Stage1. Ubiquity and (in)visibility2.Food Packaging: a TechnologyPart Two: How Did it Get Like This? Early Precursors3. Bags, Sacks and a lot of Paper4.Barrels, Casks and Tea Chests5. Bottles, Jars and Gallons of Milk6. Canisters, Cans and CanningPart Three: How Did it Get Like This? Industrialised Packaging7. Tomato Ketchup and Transparent Bottles8.Ready Meals, Microwaves and Plastic Trays9. Salad Leaves and Protective AtmospheresPart Four: Where Now?10. Food Packaging - A Trio of Futures and a Provisional EndingReferencesIndex

Surely the most comprehensive study of food packaging ever written, this book takes us on a breathtaking journey through the history of the most powerful yet neglected marketing device. By paying close attention to the development of an incredible range of technologies - glass, carton, metal and plastic containers; jars, bottles, cans, canisters, and even modified atmosphere packaging - she reveals the incredible depth - material, cultural, sociological - of the most tangible, yet often unseen, market surface, and thus helps us better address the underlying challenges.