Because these products are manufactured to serve as weaning foods in urban as well as in rural areas, careful storage is essential. Addition of preservatives. This is sometimes desirable to reduce or avoid the development of off-flavours, losses of vitamins, or formation of substances that could induce nutritional problems. Packaging materials serve to preserve the packaged food from external physical and biological factors as well as to carry appropriate messages to the potential consumer. It is best to package a processed product rather than a raw one, since with the latter there is the danger of insect egg development within the package in addition to the rapid development of off-flavours.
Insects can pierce the package material and expose the product to the external environment.
Packaging materials commonly used include plastic, paper with an internal covering of plastic cellophane, or closed paper boxes. These could be carried out for periods of two to four months in schools or other institutions or directly in households. Once the above problems have been solved, methods of production should be established. If the materials are already processed, the production operation will involve only mixing and packaging. On the other hand, if the products are not fully processed, or are still raw, processing must be carried out.