Beruflich Dokumente
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by Aaron L. Brody
Starkist Tuna Fillets are among the newest products packaged in retort pouches.
Photo courtesy of Del Monte Foods
he North American retort pouch and tray market is estimated to be well over five billion units, with a double-digit annual growth rate in the United States. These numbers are far above those of a decade ago when the militarys Meal, Ready to Eat (MRE) rations and a few pet foods were at the periphery of a perilous technology. With boosts from increased military and humanitarian needs, offshore processing/packaging facilities and consumer acceptance, retort pouch/tray
Retort pouches and trays will surely be a major category for our food science and technology future.
technologies appear to be entering the mainstream of food preservation and packaging. From their beginnings in the late 1940s, retort pouches and trays have encountered technical, marketing, economic, and regulatory challenges. With the assistance of consultant Henry Bud Strassheim and McGill Universitys Hosahalli Swami Ramaswamy, I shall summarize the facts regarding what will surely be a major category for our food science and technology future.
reactions take place within the enclosure. Retort pouches and trays and their kin are lower-mass structures than metal and glass containers. They occupy less space volume than cylinders and similar shapes. Pouches are usually easier to open and access than metal cans and glass jars, even those with easy-open closures. Also, in theory, products in retort pouches and trays are easier to rethermalize than the contents of cans, and marketers are pleased with their larger display areas. In recent years, as more responsible converters have entered the business, the prices of the package structures have come down to well below those of metal cans and glass jars. Companies offering flexible structures include Ampac (www. ampaconline.com), Lithotype (www.lithotype. com), Smurfit-Stone (www.smurfit-stone.com), Sonoco (www.sonoco.com), TechniPak, Alcan (www.alcan.com, www.alcanpackaging.com), Huhtamaki (www.huhtamaki.com), Pyramid, Hyewon (www.hyewonpack.com), Toyo Seikan (www.toyo-seikan.com.jp), and Fuji Tokushi. All materials for retort pouch and tray packaging for low-acid foods must meet regulatory requirements, but meeting minimum specifications does not necessarily translate into quality. Numbers and interesting prices do not always mean batch-to-batch uniformity, a caution that cannot be overemphasized.
Equipment
Machinery to fabricate pouches and trays, fill and seal them, and subsequently sterilize and cool them has been vastly improved since the early years of almost manual speeds. Filling and Sealing. Due to sealing limitations, retort pouch and tray output speeds and efficiencies have not nearly approached those of metal cans or glass jars. Speeds of fewer than 100/min/line are not uncommon, although ganged lines may reach higher outputs. Most pouch equipment, such as Toyo Jidoki from Japan (www.alliedflex.com), Roberts from the U.S., and Bossar (www.bossar.com) and Laudenberg from Europe, operate with pouches preformed on Japanese Nishibe or Totani pouch formers. In recent years equipment that fabricates
[PACKAGING]
Meals packaged in the Hormel Microwave Tray line come in 17 varieties and require only 90 sec of heating.
Photo courtesy of Hormel Foods
pouches from roll stock has become commercially viable. Crucial to pouch-filling equipment is for the food product to flow through the top opening of the pouch and not contaminate the seal area, which could possibly interfere with heat-sealing. Removal of air minimizes the probability of pressure from within during the heating and cooling processes. Probably the most widely used tray equipment is from Switzerlands Hans Rychiger AG (www.rychiger.com), which has had long experience in engineering precision machinery for this application. Trays, cups, or bowls are filled and
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in North America. The major tray producer with long experienceis Hormel with its Dinty Moore and Hormel brands. Gerber has entered the market with both silica-coated barrier pouches and two-compartment/component barrier plastic trays for baby foods. The expectation among experts is that as rapidly growing as is the retail categoryfor seafood, rice, and poultryan area with more potential is foodservice. No. 10 can replacement has been growing for high-acid foods, but most makers have shunned low-acid for fear of compromising the seal integrity of the large perimeter. Recent advances in sealant technology are challenging the previous notions and opening this larger-size pouch for wider commercialization to parallel hot-fill high-acid foods. It is interesting to note that relatively few food processors/packagers have invested in the hardware to enter this market, but considerable contract processing/packaging capacity is available. More important, much of the misinformation surrounding the technology is evaporating, leading to a cadr of competent professionals to oversee the development and operations.
The Future
How far retort pouches and trays will grow in the coming years depends on many factors, no longer among which are technical, consumer, or economic obstacles. Preformed consumer-size pouches are now priced below metal cans. The reliability of existing systems is approaching that of double-seam metal cans, the industry standard. If baby foods are now being packaged in retort pouches and trays, the safety has been commercially demonstrated. And with long production runs today no longer a major issue due to the variety of offerings, output should not be a deterrent. We hardly expect retort pouches and trays to replace metal cans over a predictable time horizon, but they will capture a growing market in the coming years, especially for newer, more specialty entretype products. After a long journey from humble academic beginnings, retort packages have arrived. FT
Aaron L. Brody, Contributing Editor , President and CEO, Packaging/Brody, Inc., Duluth, Ga. aaronbrody@aol.com