Guidelines on good manufacturing practice for
heat processed flexible packaging

Practical guidance on the uses and limitations of flexible packaging for heat processed foods

There has been considerable recent growth in the use of flexible pouch packaging for heat preserved foods,which has generated new opportunities for presentation of products ranging from meats, vegetables, and rice and pasta ready-foods to sauces, desserts and pet food. Such products can be ambient stable or chilled and include many of the so- called REPFEDs (refrigerated pasteurised foods of extended durability). These developments have created the need for up-to-date guidance on in-pack heat processing of such products, to encourage and enable the adoption of good manufacturing practice. This document provides this guidance

Based on CCFRA’s long established Guidelines on GMP for sterilisable flexible packaging operations for low acid foods (Technical Manual No. 4), this extensively revised and updated guide has been developed by a group of representatives actively involved in the manufacture and development of these types of products. It takes in packaging requirements (preformed, reel fed and secondary), filling techniques, sealing conditions, processing (both pasteurisation and sterilisation) and transportation. It also includes information on recommended quality assurance checks and on pouch defects. Written with a strong practical stance, the guide will be of use to both food and packaging companies using flexible sterilisable packaging for food and drink products.

Contents

• Introduction
• Pouch performance specification
  -Film selection
  -Packaging and delivery
  -Storage and handling
  -QA checks and packaging regulations
• Filling techniques
  -Preconditioning
  -QA checks - filling of pouches
  -Pouch loading, coding and opening
  -Filled weight and pack thickness
  -Prevention of contamination of seals
  -Entrapped air and headspace
• Pouch sealing
  -Sealing conditions and types
  -QA checks
• Loading of pouches into retort racking or pack holding systems
  -Holding time pre-retorting
  -Reconstitution and rehydration
  -Holding environment
  -Product identification during holding
  -Initial temperature for retorting
  -Tray design and stacking considerations
  -Orientation / positioning of pouch
  -Handling and loading the retort
• Heat process requirements
  -Scheduled heat process
  -Heat distribution
  -Heat penetration
  -Post-process handling
  -QA checks - post-processing
• Outer packaging
• Glossary of terms
• References
• Appendices
  -Film structures
  -Legislation requirements
  -Compression burst test
  -Measurement of sealing conditions
  -Measurement of headspace air content
  -Dye penetration test
  -Pouch defects

Softcover – 75 pages – full colour

ISBN 0 905942 80 9