Packaging is crucial to our modern food distribution and marketing systems. Without protective packaging, food spoilage and wastage would increase tremendously. The advent of modern packaging technologies and new methods of packaging materials made possible the era of convenience products, especially laminated plastic packaging.
Fish is one of the most perishable of all foods. The best package material cannot improve the quality of the contents and so the fish must be of high quality prior to processing and packaging. Different products have different packaging requirements and it is important to choose suitable packaging material accordingly. Multilayered plastics are very popular since the properties of different films can be effectively used to pack different products.
1. The role of laminated plastic packaging
Packaging should protect the product from contamination and prevent it from spoilage, and at the same time it should:
- Extend the shelf life of a product
- Facilitate distribution and display
- Give the product greater consumer appeal
- Facilitate the display of information on the product
The quality of freshwater fish delivered to consumers or factories such as raw fish is highly dependent on proper handling during transport and when packaged in appropriate packaging.
2. Types of laminated film packaging used in packing fresh fish
Plastics offer several advantages over other packaging materials since they are light in weight, flexible, and offer resistance to cracking. Plastics have the advantage that most of them possess excellent physical properties such as strength and toughness. The requirements with a particular food may not be met within a single packaging material, as it may not possess all the desired properties. In such cases, copolymers or laminates consisting of two or more layers of different polymers having different properties can also be used.
Hundreds of different films are used in the packaging industry. These can be broadly categorized into two groups:
- Basic films consisting of a single layer of film
- Laminate consisting of two or more basic films glued together or bonded together by heat or by adhesives
Plastics such as polyethylene film or copolymer of ethylene and vinyl acetate are very often used for packing frozen products. Polyethylene packs can be produced manually using pre-made bags.
In order to improve the barrier properties of packages laminates are used, for example, polyester/polythene. Products which are particularly sensitive to oxygen are vacuum-packed. During the sealing operation, the air is removed from the package. A laminate nylon/polythene is commonly used as a packaging material. This type of packaging is used, for instance, for smoked trout which are arranged on a board with, for example, a coated texture.
Vacuum-skin packaging is becoming more common for packing smoked fish. In this process the wrapper is heated and wrapped over the product, the film molding completely to the product shape and sealing the product completely, forming an extra skin.
Most commonly used as it possesses qualities such as transparency, water vapor impermeability, heat sealability, chemical inertness, and low cost of production. Organic vapors, oxygen, and carbon dioxide permeabilities are high and have poor grease barrier properties.
HDPE resins are produced by the low-pressure process. HDPE posses a much more linear structure than LDPE and has up to 90% crystallinity. It is stronger, thicker, less flexible, and more brittle than LDPE and has lower permeability to gases and moisture. It has a higher softening temperature (121°C) and can therefore be heat sterilized. High molecular weight high-density polythene (HM-HDPE) has very good mechanical strength, less creep, and better environmental stress crack resistance properties.
Linear Low-Density Polythene (LLDPE)
Linear low-density polythene is low-density polythene produced by a low-pressure process. Generally, the advantages of LLDPE over LDPE are improved chemical resistance, improved puncture resistance, and tear strength. The superior properties of LLDPE have led to its use in new applications for polyethylene as well as the replacement of LDPE and HDPE in some areas.
Polypropylene is produced by the polymerization of propylene. All PP films have permeability about ¼ to ½ that of polyethylene. It is stronger, rigid, and lighter than polyethylene.
It is an extruded, nonoriented film and is characterized by good stiffness, grease, and heat resistance and also has a good moisture barrier. However, it is not a good gas barrier.
Orientation can be in one direction (unbalanced) or in two directions equally (balanced). The resulting film is characterized by good low-temperature durability, high stiffness, and excellent moisture vapor transmission rate. One drawback of OPP is its low tensile strength.
The material is manufactured from ethylene and benzene, which are cheap. Since it is crystal clear and sparkling, it is used in blister packs and as a breathing film for packaging fresh produce. These materials have low heat sealability and often tend to stick to the jaws of the heat sealer.
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Polyester film’s outstanding properties as a food packaging material are its great tensile strength, low gas permeability, excellent chemical resistance, lightweight, elasticity, and stability over a wide range of temperatures (-60° to 220°C). Although many films can be metalized, polyester is the most commonly used one. Metallization results in considerable improvement in barrier properties.
PA is a strong, tough, highly crystalline material with high melting and softening points. High abrasion resistance and low gas permeability are other characteristic properties.
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
Thin plasticized PVC film is widely used in supermarkets for the stretch wrapping of trays containing fresh red meat and produce.
Aluminum has excellent properties like thermal conductivity, lightweight, corrosion resistance, grease and oil resistance, tastelessness, odourlessness, heat and flame resistance, opacity, and non-toxicity. Aluminum foil free from defects is a perfect moisture and oxygen barrier.
3. A supplier of prestigious and quality plastic films
Union Packaging with many years of experience in the field of providing plastic films and plastic packaging is manufactured from virgin plastic particles and meets FDA standards. Customers can rest assured when cooperating with us because Union Packaging always ensures:
- Customer satisfaction is the number 1 priority
- Outstanding product quality from stable sources of quality goods from Taiwan and China
- Competitive price
- Reputation builds a brand
- Product safety certification
- Fast shipping
- Various payment policies
- Enthusiastic, dynamic, and creative staff
- Providing a wide range of plastic films for packaging materials
- Being a close partner of many suppliers
Union Packaging is a reputable and experienced supplier of OPP, CPP, MCPP, PET, MPET, PE laminated film…. in the industry. We always try to research, develop and improve product quality, improve customer care ability to meet the increasing demands of the domestic and foreign packaging market. Please contact us now: 0987 437 469 – 0903 750 384 for specific advice and quotation.
UNION PACKAGING SOLUTION JOINT STOCK COMPANY
Address: No. 5, 3643A Street, Pham The Hien, Ward 7, District 8, HCMC
Tel: 0987 437 469 – 0903 750 384