Emerging Technologies for Sustainable Food Innovation: Integrating Processing, Powder Engineering, Digitalisation, Circularity, and Sustainable Packaging

Nutsuda Sumonsiri; Ishak Ruzaina

Authors

Nutsuda Sumonsiri School of Health and Life Sciences, Teesside University, Middlesbrough TS1 3BX, United Kingdom
Ishak Ruzaina School of Health and Life Sciences, Teesside University, Middlesbrough TS1 3BX, United Kingdom

Keywords:

Sustainable food innovation, Emerging technologies, Food processing, Powder engineering, Circular economy

Abstract

The food sector is under increasing pressure to improve productivity and food security while reducing resource consumption, food loss, waste, and environmental impacts. Emerging technologies are providing new approaches to address these challenges, but their contribution to sustainability depends on their technical performance, economic feasibility, and integration within the wider food system. This review examines recent advances in sustainable food innovation, focusing on five complementary areas: advanced food processing, powder engineering, circular food systems, digital transformation, and sustainable packaging. Technologies including high-pressure processing, pulsed electric fields, cold plasma, ultrasound, electrostatic powder coating, artificial intelligence, food-waste valorisation, and biodegradable and active packaging are discussed in relation to their effects on processing efficiency, resource use, product quality, and waste reduction. The review also considers the main barriers to wider adoption, including scale-up, investment costs, regulatory requirements, process integration, data availability, and variability in raw materials and processing conditions. Particular attention is given to the need for life cycle, techno-economic, and social assessment to determine whether improvements at individual processing stages translate into benefits at the food-system level. Future research should focus on integrating complementary technologies, developing data-driven and resource-efficient manufacturing systems, and improving the commercial viability of circular and sustainable solutions. Such an integrated approach can help move promising technologies from laboratory research towards practical applications that support more resilient, efficient, and sustainable food systems.

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