ATLANTA — The fruit and vegetable industry continues to try to make packaging more sustainable, but is faced with the difficulty of replacing or changing plastic and regulations the industry considers unworkable, a panel said here on Friday at an International Fresh Produce Association educational session in conjunction with its annual trade show. 

Judy Clark of Fresh Texas noted that the European Union had proposed a regulation that seemed to tell consumers they should bring their own containers to a salad bar.

But if consumers “took Tupperware out of their car trunks” and put food items in it and then maybe put some back, “How safe is that?,” she asked. 

Max Teplitski, the chief science officer at the International Fresh Produce Association, who moderated the panel, noted that packaging plays 16 different roles from food safety to marketing. 

Jeffrey Bandenburg of QFreshLands/JSB Group said there is no single solution to the issue of making packaging more sustainable. 

Referring to pressure to sell fruits and vegetables only in bulk, Brandenburg added, “Without packaging the global produce industry will shrink.”