In today’s fast-paced world, ready meals are becoming an increasingly important part of our daily lives due to their variety and convenience. As an essential component of meal packaging, flexible packaging must ensure food safety and hygiene, as well as playing a key role in preservation and portability. This article will discuss how to choose suitable flexible packaging for ready meals and how it can enhance the consumer experience.
The three main pain points of pre-prepared dishes: ① taste restoration; ② food shelf life; ③ health and safety.
The following will explain the solutions from the perspective of packaging practitioners:
1. Taste restoration: During the processing, storage and transportation of pre-prepared dishes, the freshness, taste and flavor of the ingredients will be affected to a certain extent. At the same time, different cooking processes and heating methods will also affect the taste.
Solutions:
1) Choose flexible packaging materials with high barrier properties: In order to maintain the original flavor of pre-prepared dishes, it is key to choose flexible packaging materials with excellent barrier properties. These materials can effectively prevent the penetration of oxygen, moisture and odor molecules, and maintain the freshness and taste of food.
2) Use vacuum or modified atmosphere packaging technology: Vacuum packaging can remove the air in the package and slow down the oxidation rate of food, thereby maintaining the taste and flavor of the food. Modified atmosphere packaging extends the shelf life and taste of food by adjusting the gas ratio in the package, such as increasing nitrogen or reducing oxygen.
3) Consider the interaction between packaging materials and food: Different foods have different requirements for packaging materials. Therefore, when selecting flexible packaging materials, it is necessary to consider their interaction with food to ensure that the food will not be adversely affected during the packaging process.
2. Food shelf life: The shelf life of pre-prepared dishes is usually short and is easily affected by environmental factors such as temperature and humidity, causing food to deteriorate. Some pre-prepared dishes add preservatives and other additives to extend the shelf life.
Solutions from the perspective of packaging:
1) Choose flexible packaging materials with good weather resistance: Materials with good weather resistance can maintain stable performance under different temperature and humidity conditions, thereby extending the shelf life of pre-prepared dishes.
2) Use packaging materials with antibacterial and antiseptic functions: Some new flexible packaging materials have antibacterial and antiseptic functions, which can effectively inhibit the growth of microorganisms and extend the shelf life of food.
3) Strengthen the sealing of the packaging: Ensure that the packaging will not break or leak during transportation and storage to maintain a stable environment inside the packaging, thereby extending the shelf life of the food.
3. Health and safety: During the processing of pre-prepared dishes, some food additives may be added in order to improve the taste, extend the shelf life, etc. However, some unscrupulous merchants may use excessive amounts of additives, or even use illegal additives, which may harm human health. In addition, the source and quality of raw materials may also pose safety hazards.
Solutions from the packaging perspective:
1) As mentioned earlier, you can choose high-barrier packaging materials to avoid adding preservatives and other additives to food for preservation. Choosing a high-quality packaging can reduce or eliminate the use of preservatives.
2) Choose flexible packaging materials that meet food safety standards: When choosing flexible packaging materials, ensure that they meet national and local food safety standards and avoid the use of toxic and hazardous substances.
3) Strengthen the quality inspection of packaging materials to ensure that they meet safety regulations for contact with food and ensure the safety of food.
Common pre-prepared meal packaging solutions
Based on some common pre-prepared meal packaging solutions mentioned above, we divide pre-prepared meals into three categories to summarize their suitable packaging solutions: room temperature pre-prepared meals, cold chain pre-prepared meals, and 0~4℃ fresh-keeping pre-prepared meals.
1. Requirements for packaging of room temperature pre-prepared meals: high temperature steaming, high barrier, in-bag cooking, self-heating, microwave heating, etc.
Main types:
1) High barrier cover film
Common applications: room temperature sterile rice cover film, cooked food cover film, etc.
Main features: high temperature resistance, high barrier, easy to peel performance
Common structure: SiOxPET/PA/EZPEEL-RCPP
Appendix: Commonly used oxygen barrier materials for room temperature pre-prepared meals are EVOH, PVDC, AL, VM, SIOxPET, ALOxPET, HGPA, PVA (PVOH), EHA, etc.
2) High barrier and easy-to-peel stretch film
Common applications: beef jerky, crab sticks, braised cooked food and other ready-to-eat cooked food packaging
Main features: high barrier, cooking resistance, easy to peel, stretchable and other functions
Common structure: upper film PET (PA) / AL / EZPEEL RCPP or ALOxPET / EZPEEL RCPP lower film: easy-to-peel high barrier co-extruded film
3) High-barrier high-temperature cooking bags
Common applications: corn bags, chestnut bags, high-temperature cooking dish bags, etc., which require high-temperature sterilization and room-temperature storage for cooked food packaging.
Main features: vacuumable, high-barrier performance, high-temperature cooking resistance, some products require puncture resistance, straight-line tearing, etc.
Common structures: HGPA/PA/RCPP; PET/AL/NY/RCPP; ALOxPET/PA/RCPP; PET/AL/RCPP, etc.
2. Requirements for cold chain pre-prepared food packaging: quick freezing, refrigeration, in-bag cooking, microwave self-exhaust, boiling, puncture resistance, etc.
Main types:
1) Quick-frozen fresh-keeping pre-prepared food packaging
Common applications: cooked meat, seafood, etc.
Main features: liquid nitrogen quick freezing to lock freshness, -18℃ refrigeration, cooking in bags or cooking in containers (microwave, boiling water, oven, etc.)
Common structures: PET/PE, PA/PE, PET/PA/PE Main features: freeze-resistant, can be designed with straight-line tearing (easy-to-tear material or laser line), microwave self-exhaust, can be used as a bowl after heating, convenient and wash-free
2) Conventional quick-frozen food packaging
Common applications: quick-frozen pasta, quick-frozen hot pot and barbecue ingredients, etc.
Main features: quick freezing, -18℃ refrigeration
Common structures: PET/PE, PA/PE
Main features: freeze-resistant, can be simply cooked and eaten; some products need to be designed with puncture-resistant PE formula
3. 0~4℃ fresh-keeping pre-prepared food packaging Packaging requirements: modified atmosphere to lock freshness, high barrier, skin packaging
Main types:
1) MAP (Modified Atmosphere Packaging-MAP) Modified atmosphere packaging cover film
Conventional applications: used for fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh livestock and poultry products, cooked food products and fresh aquatic products, etc. It extends the shelf life of food and maintains its freshness by creating a gas environment inside the package that is conducive to food preservation.
Main features: high barrier, anti-fog, easy to peel or dead seal
Common structure: Co-extruded film: PP sheet/EVOH multi-layer co-extruded easy-to-peel film, PET sheet/EVOH multi-layer co-extruded easy-to-peel film High barrier shrinkage cover film (Sarlin) about 25U Composite film: AlOxPET/anti-fog easy-to-peel PE, PET/EVOHPE, etc.
2) VSP (Vacuum Skin Packaging-VSP) Vacuum skin packaging cover film
Conventional applications: fresh meat, seafood, poultry, cooked dishes, etc.
Main features: vacuum skin, high transmittance, high barrier, puncture resistance, anti-fog, easy to peel
Common structure: high barrier co-extruded film, the inner layer is mostly Surly and EVA resin, good thermal viscosity and good elasticity