New packaging protects meats in humid climates
multilayer package that protects meat from high-humidity
environments.
The technology, developed by US group Dow Chemical, is being used by corn sausage maker Linyi Xincheng JinLuo Meat Products, the first meat processor in the world to market the packaging.
JinLuo's corn sausage product contains 3-5 per cent natural corn ingredients, giving the sausage a sweet flavour but also increasing its moisture content.
The pack made with Dow's Saran brand polyolefin film does not lose its barrier properties when exposed to moisture in the product or the high-humidity environment of southeast China. Humidity levels previously caused problems for the company.
"Traditional EVOH film packaging is sensitive to humidity. When the barrier properties of EVOH weakened, it led to bacteria that caused the meat to rot, the sausage to discolour, and the package to inflate (swell)," said Zhang LiFeng, general engineer and R&D director at Linyi Xincheng JinLuo Meat Products.
Using the new PVDC co-extruded film packaging has improved both the shelf life and appearance of the sausage product, he said.
J&A uses multilayer heat insulation technology to create the sausage packaging in a single step process. The coextruded film structure results in a high water and oxygen barrier material and the film is also transparent.
J&A claims the film is "generally more cost effective due to the elimination or reduction of lamination or coating processes that are required to accomplish barrier and other functionalities demanded by different applications."
The barrier properties also offer downgauging potential for lower total costs.
The package has received the Grand Pinnacle Award of the 2005 DuPont China Packaging Award Competition for its innovative technology that can process thermal sensitive and non-thermal sensitive resin with temperature difference together in a co-extrusion process.
J&A Industrial is expecting to see millions of sausages sold this year. J&A products are also sold abroad.
