Meat Packaging
In the 1960s, the United States launched the retort packaging bag which made of aluminium-plastic laminate film to solve the problem of packaging for astronautical food such as meat products. This packaging technology can let the meat be stored at room temperature and have a shelf life of more than one year after being sterilised under high temperature and pressure. The retort bag acts like a canning jar and is soft and lightweight, hence it also called soft canning. For meat products which requires a long shelf life stored at room temperature, the retort bag is the perfect choice of the packaging.
The earliest meat packaging that could be used to store at room temperature was canning and glass jars. They are both high temperature resistant and with high barrier properties, so the shelf life of meat food can reach more than 1 year. However, because tin cans and glass bottles are rigid packaging containers, they are with large size and heavy weights, comparing with flexible packaging bag they are not so convenience to carry. Furthermore, their chemical resistance is not good as retort bag. For example, when filling the canning with acidic food, the metal ions easily precipitated, which affects the taste of food.
With high temperature resistance and high barrier properties, retort packaging is the perfect choice for meat packaging. In meat industry, there are two types of processes: high-temperature and high-pressure sterilisation and low-temperature and atmospheric sterilisation. Low-temperature sterilised meat products have a low heating temperature and the fibre of the meat is not destroyed, so the taste is tender and the nutrients are well preserved; however, as it only kills pathogenic bacteria, there are still a large number of spoilage bacteria, which not only results in a short shelf life.High-temperature sterilised meat is not as tasty as low-temperature sterilised products due to excessive shrinkage of the meat fibres caused by the high heating temperature, but because it kills all bacteria and eliminates the internal causes of spoilage, the shelf life can be greatly extended.
High temperature sterilised meat products, such as high barrier packaging materials, not only have a longer shelf life when stored at room temperature, but are also easy to transport, store and sell, making them ideal for the consumer needs of modern society. Therefore, the production of storage resistant meat products at room temperature is an important product development direction for the meat industry. And the packaging industry to follow this development trend, something to do, something innovative, both to meet the needs of the food industry, but also to win a broad market for themselves.
According to the temperature of sterilisation, the material design of the bags will also be different. Usually they are divided into boiled（100°）and steamed（121° and 135°）, the boiled packaging structure, commonly used are NY/PE, PET/PE, NY/CPP, PET/CPP, PET/VMPET/PE, etc. The structure of boiled packaging is NY/CPP, PET/CPP, PET/NY/CPP, PET/AL/CPP, PET/AL/NY/CPP, etc.
And according to the appearance of packaging，generally retort bags could be the following structure:
Transparent type: BOPA/RCPP, PET/CPP, PET/BOPA/RCPP, BOPA/PET/RCPP, PET/PVDC/RCPP, GL-PET/BOPA/RCPP.
Aluminum foil type: PET/AL/RCPP, PA/AL/RCPP, PET/PA/AL/RCPP, PET/AL/PA/RCPP.
* For specific products choose the suitable structure, transparent bags are mostly used for 100~125 degrees sterilization, and aluminum foil bags can be used for 135 degrees ultra-high temperature sterilization.
Our meat retort bag is with following advantages:
1) Excellent atmospheric and moisture resistance, good mechanical strength, heat resistance.
2) Good sanitary properties, no odor, and good oil resistance.
3) Excellent durability to retort, with stable dimensions after retort.
4) Excellent heat sealability.
5) Excellent printability, with good resistance to retort of printing ink, low solvent residue and no fading.
6) Excellent filling properties, with good tolerance to punctures and cold.
7) Opaque bags with a shelf life of 1 year or more.
8) Attractive appearance.