Preparing a Heater Prototype for Self-Heating Food Packaging

Technological advances have offered many conveniences across various aspects of life. Food packaging is also increasingly innovative to meet the dynamic needs of human life. Packaging innovation also extends to practical aspects of use, one of which is the need for self-heating food packaging. Therefore, this research focuses on making heaters for self-heating packaging that work based on non-toxic exothermic reactions using widely available and common materials. The heater is made using a mixture of CaO, NaOH and Mg with a composition of 1:1:0.5. The heat released reaches 70 °C if measured directly within the chemical mixture. In Al-sachet packaging, the heat is measured at less than 50 °C due to poor heat transfer through the aluminum sachet. However, in paper bag packaging, the heat released in water can reach 60 °C for a duration of 15 minutes. A significant drawback of using paper bags is the migration of chemicals from the heating pouch into the water, posing a risk of contaminating the food. Therefore, appropriate heating package design is essential to reduce potential hazards.