Sustainable Meat Packaging Using Functional Nanomaterials: A Comprehensive Review on Recent Advances and Future Potential

The global meat industry faces multiple challenges in ensuring safety, maintaining transparency, and mitigating environmental impacts associated with conventional packaging. Functional nanomaterials have great promise in addressing these issues from farm to fork, yet their use in meat packaging remains limited. This review provides insight into the mechanisms of meat spoilage, followed by a discussion of recent progress in nanomaterial-based meat packaging, emphasizing microbial inhibition and enhanced packaging properties. The review further explores how nanomaterials can enhance consumer trust through traceability and real-time quality monitoring and how they aid eco-friendly packaging and sustainability. Different nanoparticles prevent spoilage and improve packaging durability by shielding against external factors. Nanosensors can allow consumers to verify meat quality and origin. Biodegradable nanocomposites for environmental protection are also gaining interest. The review concludes with key recommendations for future research, including digital twins, upcycling, nanosafety design, and more, targeting researchers and policymakers in the field.