Retort pouch

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A retort bag or retractable bag is a type of food packaging made from flexible plastic laminates and metal foils. This enables sterile packaging of a wide variety of foods and beverages handled by aseptic processing, and is used as an alternative to traditional industrial canning methods. Packaged foods range from water to high-temperature (thermo-stabilized) (high-calorie) meals (1,300 kcal) (average 1,300 kcal) such as Eat Prepared Food, Ready-Cook Meal (MRE), warmed by soaking in hot water water, or through the use of flameless ration heaters, food components introduced by the military in 1992. Retort pouches are used in field rations, space food, camping food and brands such as Capri Sun and Tasty Bite.

Some varieties have the lower part of gusset and are known as Stand-Up Pockets.

Video Retort pouch

Origin

The retort pouch was invented by the United States Army, R & D Commander, Reynolds Metals Company and Continental Flexible Packaging, which together received the Food Technology Industry Award for its discovery in 1978. The retractable bag is extensively used by the military US for field rations (called Food, Ready-Eating , or MREs ).

Maps Retort pouch

Construction

The retort pouch is constructed of flexible metal-plastic laminates capable of withstanding the thermal processes used for sterilization. The first food is prepared, either raw or cooked, and then sealed into a retort pouch. The bag is then heated to 240-250 Â ° F (116-121 Â ° C) for several minutes under high pressure inside the retort or autoclave machine. The food in it is cooked the same way to cook the pressure. This process can reliably kill all common microorganisms (especially Clostridium botulinum ), preventing it from damage. The packaging process is very similar to canning, except that the package itself is flexible. The laminate structure does not allow the permeation of the gas from the outside into the bag. The retort pouch construction varies from one application to another, as the liquid product requires different barrier properties of the dry product, and also the acid product requires different chemical resistance of the base product. Some of the different plastic layers used in the retort pouch include:

• polyester (PET) - provides a gloss and rigid layer, can be printed inside
• nylon (polyamide bi-oriented) - provides puncture resistance
• aluminum (Al) - provides a very thin but effective gas barrier
• polypropylene cast food grade (CPP) - used as sealing layer
• polyethylene (PE) - can be used instead of PP as a sealing and bonding layer

This multi-layer structure prevents retort pouches from being recycled into retort pouches or other food packaging. However, the material can be recycled into aluminized resins or recycled into textile materials. The weight of the bag is smaller than the regular can or bottle, and the energy required to produce each bag is less than the competing packaging of metal, paper, and glass.

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Reception

In the consumer market, retort pockets have gained immense popularity outside the United States, particularly in the Pacific region. However, American consumers have been shown to show reluctance about packaging technology, and its adoption is slow. As a result, many retort packages sold in the United States are packed in cartons to give them a more intimate appearance for consumers. Tasty Bite products are examples of retort pouch products packed in cartons. Some American food distributors have begun to produce food in retort pouches without cartons, especially Chicken of the Sea tuna canning companies, and Bumble Bee. In 2012, the Campbell Soup Company introduced a line of ready-to-eat soup in a stand-up retort pouch to American consumers. The launch of the product came with a marketing campaign aimed at the Millennium Generation, which has shown a reluctance to buy other Campbell Soup products in the past.

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References

• Yam, K. L., "Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology", John Wiley & amp; Children, 2009, ISBN 978-0-470-08704-6

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See also

• Pull back
• Stable food on the shelf
• Environmental impact of sterile food packaging

Source of the article : Wikipedia