The term bio-active packaging refers to a packaging material that has been modified by the attachment or immobilization of bioactive components on the food contact surface. This article describes a novel, economical, and feasible technique for embedding bioactive components in energy curable food contact resins. While the technique is versatile and potentially applicable to any antimicrobial or bioactive compound; the proof of concept discussed in this article has focused on enzyme immobilization. Glucose oxidase (GOx) and catalase were used as representative enzymes. These oxicloreductases are very sensitive to inactivation by extrinsic factors and therefore present a challenging model for immobilization. Embedding of activity occurred via UV polymerization of commercial polymer coatings. The efficiency of immobilization and the performance of bioactive packaging were tested in both food simulants and actual food products. In both cases immobilization resulted in food contact surfaces with high retained enzyme activity as demonstrated by oxygen removal. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.