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Report: Innovative New Machinery for the Food Industry at PACK EXPO Las Vegas

PMMI Media Group editors fanned out across the many booths at PACK EXPO Las Vegas to bring you this Innovations Report on machinery for the food industry.

Image #1 in the article text.
Image #1 in the article text.

At the Harpak-ULMA PACK EXPO Las Vegas booth, a key emphasis was on a package format not seen very much in the U.S.  but that is increasingly popular in Europe: trayless ground meat backflushed with a mix of oxygen and carbon dioxide and wrapped on a flow wrapper (1).Image #1 in the article text.Image #1 in the article text.

Harpak-ULMA Flow Wrap Product Manager Hugh Crouch, who also talked about the format at an Innovation Stage presentation,  believes this concept has a shot at being adopted in the U.S. because by eliminating the tray there’s not only a cost savings but also a source reduction advantage. In addition to removing one whole piece of packaging by going trayless, you also eliminate the trucks and the fuel they would consume when trays need to be delivered. As Crouch puts it, “Just send a roll of film to the meat packer and that’s it.”

The Harpak-ULMA flow wrappers recommended for trayless ground meat are either the Ulma FM 300 for speeds to 70 packs/min or the FM 500 for up to 130 packs/min. The films being applied vary considerably according to shelf life requirements. European meat marketers are not inserting a soaker pad, paper only. Testing in the USA has been done both with and without a soaker pad. The jury is still out on whether it’s needed.

Crouch admits that, historically at least, the U.S. consumer has not been all that receptive to ground meat packaging formats other than the tray plus film overwrap. But considering how vociferous consumers have become where sustainability is concerned, he thinks it may be time to try this format in the U.S., and in fact testing is now underway. Crouch also points out that the shelf life of such packs in the U.S. marketplace would need to be longer than what is required in Europe due to the greater distances that fresh ground meat needs to travel on this side of the Atlantic. So the flexible films and gas mixtures used would likely need some tweaking.

Worth noting is that Harpak-Ulma wasn’t the only PACK EXPO exhibitor talking about trayless ground meat. A similar MAP flow wrap concept was on display at the Omori booth.


Watch video   

Watch a video of trayless meat packaging.


As consumers put more emphasis on health, demanding more natural, fresh foods, interest is growing in High Pressure Processing (HPP) and what it can do to extend the refrigerated shelf lives of natural products. At PACK EXPO Las Vegas, JBT Avure introduced its FlexiBulk system (2), which is aimed at optimizing efficiency and throughput significantly. But to appreciate what a game-changer this innovation might be, it’s helpful to consider how HPP—the practice of extending refrigerated shelf life of packaged products by using high pressure to inactivate bacteria such as listeria, salmonella, and E. coli—has typically been done.Image #2 in the article text.Image #2 in the article text.

Historically, primary containers filled with product are placed into a large basket. It’s these baskets, after they’re filled with water, that enter the pressurizing chamber so that HPP can take place. It’s important to point out that containers made of only certain materials (primarily plastic) have been suitable for this process because things like glass or metal cannot maintain physical integrity and withstand the mechanical stress like plastic does under the intense pressure—up to 87,000 psi—involved in the process.

In recent years, innovative bulk HPP systems have helped broaden the range of packaging materials in which HPP product can be marketed. With this bulk processing approach, rather than putting filled primary containers into the HPP basket, a flexible film bag goes into the basket and then gets filled and closed. Next, the basket goes into the pressurizing chamber for the required pasteurization time. Then the basket exits the pressurizing chamber and its pasteurized contents are transferred to what’s referred to as an A-Tank. Needless to say, the interior of the A-Tank is cleaned to a level every bit as hygienic as the pasteurized product itself. From this A-Tank the product is filled into primary containers that are also sanitized to a level of cleanliness that is suitable for the pasteurized product. These containers, it’s important to point out, can be glass or metal because they don’t have to withstand the pressure of the HPP chamber. Why is this so important? Because plenty of food and beverage marketers who might be drawn to HPP are reluctant to embrace a technology that, until recently, required plastic packaging.

Videos from Urschel Laboratories, Inc.
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INTRODUCING! The Latest Trends for Food Products at PACK EXPO Southeast