Cellophane is a thin, transparent film made from cellulose.

History of existence
Cellophane was invented in 1908 by Jacques E. Brandenberger, a Swiss textile engineer. After wine was spilled on a tablecloth, he got the idea to develop a colorless coating to make textile waterproof. He experimented and came up with a way to mix liquid viscose with textiles, but the combination formed proved to be too stiff to use. He put his original idea aside, but the benefits of his creation were obvious. The low permeability of cellophane to air, fat and bacteria makes it very useful for packaging food.

Further development
In 1912, the American candy factory Whitman’s started using cellophane for packaging the Whitman’s Sampler candy. British Cellophane was founded in 1935, which in 1937 opened a large cellophane plant in Columbus, Ohio.
Cellulose film has been produced continuously since the 1930s and is still being used. In addition to packaging food, there are also a number of industrial applications, such as a basis for certain types of adhesive tape and a semi-permeable membrane in certain batteries. Cellophane is informally used as a name for many (plastic) films, even for films that are not made from cellulose. As a result, there is sometimes a lack of clarity about what cellophane is. It is a product that is still in full development, the contemporary version that Colacel processes is called “Natureflex”.