The manufacture and ingegrity of seals for packaged foods

An overview of food package seals, covering systems for sealing packages, the importance of seal integrity and approaches to assessing integrity

Sealed packages are used for products as wide ranging as ready meals, confectionery, chilled prepared salads and modified atmosphere packaged produce. They might be stored under ambient, chilled or frozen conditions. The type of seal used needs to be compatible with package, product and storage and handling conditions. Any failure of seal and pack integrity can compromise product safety, lead to spoilage, affect the visual appeal of the product, and undermine consumer confidence in the product or brand.

This document was produced to help food technologists appreciate the principles of sealing packages and the methods for assessing seal integrity. It reviews the different sealing techniques that are available for flexible packaging and semi-rigid containers. It covers the application of heat and cold seals, the equipment used to produce seal packages and the type of products that maybe packed using these techniques. It also reviews the different approaches to assessing seal integrity. It includes a number of colour images of seal defects and of equipment used to test seal integrity.

Contents

• Introduction
• Sealing
• Selecting a sealing method
• Adhesives
• Cold seals
• Heat seals
• Ultrasonic sealing
• Laser sealing
• Radio frequency sealing
• Induction sealing
• Other sealing methods
• Seal defects
• Seal integrity methods
• Inflation tests
• Seal strength
• Physical tests
• Visual inspection tests
• Leak detectors
• Indicators
• Scanning methods
• Test methods
• References
• Appendix - seal defects

Softcover 40 pages