CZ299888B6 - Smokable flat or tubular food package or film with low water-vapor permeability for packaging foodstuffs - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a smokable flat or tubular food package or film that is made of homogeneous plastic melt of plastic mixture containing polyamide, block polyether-ester copolymer and Na ionomer, whereby the mixture exhibits: a polyamide fraction in an amount of 45 to 94 percent by weight, a fraction of block polyether-ester copolymer in an amount of 5 to 45 percent by weight, and a fraction of Na ionomer in an amount of 1 to 10 percent by weight. The invention further relates to the use of such flat or tubular food package or film for the manufacture of smoked meat products smoked by natural or liquid smoke, whereby the package or film wall thickness of 25 microns, at the most, exhibits at a temperature of 25 degC a water-vapor permeability less than 120 g/me2 for a period of 24 hours.

Description

Technical field

The present invention relates to said flat or tubular food containers or food packaging films, such as sausages, shrinkable sachets or the like, or polymer bases, which are produced primarily by extrusion from a homogeneous plastic melt of a mixture comprising polyamide, Na ionomer and polyether ester block copolymer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

For food products, especially sausage products, traditional packaging from casings of slaughter animals has traditionally been used. However, these natural packagings are a scarce product and may be subject to bacterial infection, so there is an endeavor to constantly develop new synthetic analogues to these natural packagings which can be produced by simple technology, especially by extrusion.

DE 199 42 835 A1 discloses a sausage casing of a plastic material, for example a soft plastic material of low pressure polyethylene, which is permeable to gases and oxygen. The packaging material described in DE 199 42 835 A1 is to be manageable and at the same time to be sufficiently high. strength.

DE 35 26 394 A1 discloses a raw sausage casing to be made of longitudinally shaped hose-free materials, of non-oriented fibrous web made under a nozzle of at least one polyamide. The package of raw sausages is to be pourable. Reference is also made in this document to DE 30 29 028 A1, which provides plastic wrappers reinforced with a fiber fleece to be pourable. The fibrous web used herein may be polyamide-based. Fiber webs based on polyamide and polypropylene are particularly suitable. These fibrous webs are impregnated with coating solutions. Again, all film-forming polymers which are applied as powders and in the form of a solution in the melt, a suspension or a dispersion and the subsequent drying can be a film-forming material according to DE 30 290 28 A1. Molecular dispersions or colloidal solutions or suspensions of various polymers, such as polyvinyl alcohols, alone or in mixtures, would be suitable as coating materials.

. The document .DE 42 20 957 A1 comes with packaging with a flexible, carrier material of natural or chemical fibers, which is provided with a lightweight layer. Fully saponified polyvinyl alcohol should be used as a coating material. The foam on this basis is waterproof, impermeable to oxygen, nitrogen and CO ₂ , substantially impermeable. Only water vapor could flow through the lightweight polyvinyl alcohol saponified layer in a controlled manner. Fully saponified polyvinyl alcohol is therefore suitable for sausage casings, especially raw sausages. It is also conceivable to combine polyvinyl alcohol with other plastic dispersions.

Thus, manageable polyamide-based food containers with polyvinyl alcohol are known in the art. However, these known polyamide-based pourable packages must in turn comprise a fibrous web, net or other support or reinforcing material, on which the coating is then applied. Such known pourable sausage casings cannot be produced on a large scale. Moreover, they are not suitable for machine processing, for example in large meat-processing plants, because of their low stiffness and thus less shirring, as well as due to the generally unsatisfactory formation of stability.

US 6 406 797 B1 discloses a type of three-layer packaging film. This packaging film comprises a water-soluble polymer film which is suitable for packing aggressive materials. Aggressive or hazardous materials (such as detergents, soaps, pesticides, fertilizers)

If they are packed in dispensers, such as bottles, as long as their chemical content is consumed, they must be disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner. This can be technically difficult and expensive. Therefore, a polymer film should be found which takes into account environmental and safety concerns and can deposit aggressive or possibly dangerous chemicals in a simple and efficient manner. Here, a coextruded film is proposed which a) comprises an outer layer comprising fully hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohol, partially hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohol and polyethylene oxide comprising groups of selected materials, b) comprises an intermediate layer selected from the same material groups, c) has an inner layer comprising a material selected from groups comprising an acylate copolymer, a styrene maleic anhydride copolymer, a polyether blockcamide block copolymer, and a polyethyloxazoline.

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WO 00/75220 discloses a film of thermoplastic polymer (polyamide) having polyether chains, wherein the films are water vapor permeable, wherein the water vapor permeability is at least 150 g / m ² .24 hours.

Another group of solutions known in the art discloses food containers or films comprising. polyamides and ionomer resins.

EP 0 252 597 A2 discloses a pourable food casing which is formed from a polyamide resin, preferably in admixture with an olefin polymer, and from 2 to 20% of an additive, wherein the olefin polymer is preferably an ionomer resin and the additive preferably comprises glyeerol, polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate or glyeerol monostearate. This additive is compatible with the polymeric components, dissolves in water and / or oil and is in a liquid state at temperatures in the range of 70-95 ° C, resulting in conditions of subsequent heating of the package, thereby rendering the package difficult to vapor and gas permeable, leading to a deterioration in the mechanical properties of the food container.

EP 0 797 918 A1 discloses a package for smoking and storing foodstuffs having at least one layer of polyamide resin and at least one layer of modified polyolefin, wherein the polyolefin may be formed by an ionomer resin as seen from page 3, line 29 of this document. document.

The following RU 2,113,125 C1 also relates to a film for food products comprising a mixture of polyamides, a copolymer with olefin units and an ion exchange resin, the films having reduced water vapor and oxygen permeability.

In the prior art, solutions are disclosed which disclose polymer blends comprising a polyamide and a block polymer or copolymer.

WO 96/17003 and JP 8283432 characterize films comprising polyamide blocks and polyether blocks.

The polymer blend according to DE 103 23 417 B3 contains, in addition to polyamide and block polyetheramide PEBAX, also polyvinyl alcohol. This mixture is also suitable for pourable packaging or food foil, e.g. salami. These packages and films have a high water vapor permeability of at least 1000 g / m ² per 24 hours.

US 2004/0047951 A1 relates to an pourable package comprising polyamides or a mixture of polyamides and a polymer having polyamide blocks and polyether blocks. This packaging has a thickness of 15 to 45 μπι and a water vapor permeability of more than 200 g / m ² per 24 hours.

US 2003/00551181 A1 characterizes wearable films comprising polyamide and block copolyether ester, which films have excellent water vapor permeability at high temperatures. The properties of these films are then seen from tables referred to in this specification, from which it is seen that these films exhibit a water vapor permeability at 642 to 1016 g / m ² per 24 h at 38 ° C.

- 9 GB 299888 B6

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a food package or food packaging film having a low water vapor permeability that ensures a minimum weight loss of packaged food during smoking, cooking and storage. At the same time, the wrapper or foil must have a high smoke permeability and thus good manageability. Further, the film wrapper must be sufficiently strong and rigid to be machine-machinable.

This object is solved by an adjustable flat or tubular food container or food packaging film according to the present invention which is formed from a homogeneous plastic melt of a plastic mixture comprising a polyamide, a polyether-ester block copolymer and a Na ionomer, the mixture exhibiting:

A proportion of polyamide of from 45 to 94% by weight, a proportion of polyether-ester block copolymer of from 5 to 45% by weight, a proportion of ionomer Na of from 1 to 10% by weight.

This plastic blend composed of 45 to 94 wt. % polyamide, 5 to 45 wt. % polyether ester block copolymer and 1 to 10 wt. In particular, the ionomer Na, allows particularly good production of pourable flat or tubular food containers or foils by an extrusion process which satisfies in particular all requirements for pourable sausage casings such as sausages or sausages. In the case of a sausage casing or a food packaging film, a minimum water vapor permeability and a maximum smoke permeability are achieved, and it is the smoke permeability which is important for the smoking process. At the same time, the highest possible stiffness is achieved, which is crucial for a good solution process. These sausages or food foils also have good shape stability required for an optimal filling process. Furthermore, they exhibit low adhesion to the sausage mixture and good peeling ability. Last but not least, the food foil or sausage wrapper according to the present invention also achieves a high surface colorability which produces a typical optical appearance of the sausages.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the proportion of the individual components in the plastic mixture is 50 to 75% by weight. % of polyamide, 15 to 3 wt.%, polyether ester block copolymer, and 4 to 8 wt. ionomer Na, wherein the polyamide is preferably selected from the group consisting of: polycaprolactam PA6, polyhexamethylene adipamine PA66, copolymer PA6 / 66, or mixtures of these polyamides.

In another preferred embodiment, the pourable flat or tubular food container has only one layer.

The present invention further makes it possible to prepare a food wrap or foil having a wall thickness of 5 to 5

62 pm. wherein the film thicknesses of 10 to 40 µm at 10 to 40 µm are particularly well produced by the extrusion process. calibers / diameters up to 150 mm. In a preferred embodiment, the container and the film has a wall thickness of 15-40 pm low permeability to water vapor than 120 g / m ² per hour at 25 ° C.

The present invention also relates to the use of a food wrap or film for the production of smoked fatty or smoked smoked fatty products, wherein the wrap or film exhibits a water vapor permeability of less than 120 g / m ² per 24 hours at Deň: 32 ° C.

Further details of the packages and films of the present invention, as well as the advantages thereof, are evident from the following examples.

-3GB 299888 B6

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The Applicant has carried out a series of trials and tests which have made it possible to determine the optimal qualitative and quantitative composition of the polymer blend resulting in a novel food grade film or sausage wrapper. Embodiments of the pourable food container or food packaging film of the present invention comprise a polyamide content of 45 to 94 wt%, preferably 50 to 75 wt%, the polyether ester block copolymer content is between 5 to 45 wt%, most preferably between 15 and 30 wt% % wt. and the proportion of ionomer Na is 1 to 10% by weight, preferably 4 to 8% by weight.

Experiments and trials in the search for optimal dosing of the individual components of the polymer blend have made it possible to identify various trends that affect the resulting properties of the packaging or film produced.

For example, a higher proportion of polyamide is desirable for good shape stability and stiffness, but at the same time reduces smoke permeability and provides a possible higher adhesion to the sausage mixture than desired.

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Furthermore, the addition of polyether-ester block copolymers has been shown to greatly increase the water vapor permeability.

The following Table 1 contains a selection of 4 preferred plastic compositions which have been successfully tested under the Applicant ' s conditions, the proportions of the individual components of the compositions being always in percent by weight.

Table 1: Preferred Compositions of Plastic Compositions for the Preparation of Food Films

PA 6/66 polyether-ester block copolymer iónómer Ná 1 UBE NYLON 5023 B = 76.0% by weight AmitelPM 381 =: 20.0% by weight. Surlyn 1801 = 4% by weight. 2 UBE NYLON 5023 B = 72.5 wt. AmitelPM 381 = 22.5% by weight. Surlyn 18O1 = 5% by weight. 3 UBE NYLON 5023 B = 69% by weight. AmitelPM 381 = 25.0% by weight. % Surlyn 1801 6 wt. 4 UBE NYLON 5023 B = 65.5 wt. AmitelPM 381 = 27.5% by weight. Surlyn 1801 = 7 wt.

Subsequently, films having a high smoke permeability and a low water vapor permeability were made from the plastic composition of the present invention by extrusion; as opposed to US 2003/0055181 A1, in which the films have a high permeability to both the smoke and water vapor constituents of 642 to 1016 g / m ² per 24 hours at both smoke and water vapor Deň: 32 ° C.

The properties of the films made from the compositions of Table 1 are summarized in Table 2 below, which assesses the water vapor permeability and permeability of the films of the present invention.

Assessment of feasibility, ie permeability for smoke aroma, was performed sensoryly on finished fatty products by a panel of 10 evaluators on an excellent - good - insufficient scale.

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CZ 299888 Bo

Table 2: Properties of produced food foils

C. Foil thickness [im] Údiťelnost Water vapor permeability at 25 ° C [g / m ² per 24 h | 1 20.5 Good 60 2 19.6 Good 110 3 20.8 excellent 90 4 20.1 excellent 70

Comparing the properties of the films produced in Table 2 with US 2003/0055181 5 and US 2004/0047951, it is clear that the visible flat or tubular food containers of the present invention have a significantly low water vapor permeability and at the same time a sufficient smoke permeability, thereby a good smoking effect is achieved. Thus, the wrappers and films of the present invention guarantee minimal weight loss of cloudy foods during smoking or baking. heat treatment and storage, it

The packages or films of the invention may be made as non-oriented, unidirectional or bi-axially oriented, depending on the requirement or purpose of use, in particular pourable flat or tubular food packages or food packaging films such as sausage packages, shrink bags or the like. Natural smoke or liquid smoke can be used to smoke the food wrapped in these wrappers or foil.

Another advantageous feature of the pourable flat or tubular food container of the present invention is, in addition to the already mentioned excellent strength and stiffness, a particularly good shirring which, even with small gauges below 30 mm, allows a straight to shirred ratio of at least 27 m in stretched and 26 cm in a summarized state.

At the same time, the packaging or film according to the invention has a very good dimensional stability, so that the greasy or sausage products produced therewith can be produced according to the corresponding sausage processes.

Claims (8)

PATENT CLAIMS CLAIMS 1. A pourable flat or tubular food container or food packaging film, based on a polymer, characterized in that it is formed from a homogeneous plastic melt of a plastic mixture comprising a polyamide, a polyether ester block copolymer and a Na ionomer, wherein: 35 this mixture shows: A polyamide content of from 45 to 94% by weight, a polyether ester block copolymer content of from 5 to 45% by weight, a Na ionomer content of from 1 to 10% by weight. - 5 GB 299888 B6 A pourable food container or food packaging film according to claim 1, wherein the polyamide content is from 50 to 75% by weight. A pourable food container or food packaging film according to claim 1, characterized by 5 wherein the proportion of polyether ester block copolymers is from 15 to 30 wt. A pourable food container or food packaging film according to claim 1, wherein the proportion of ionomer Na is from 4 to 8% by weight. 10 A pourable food container or food packaging film according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the polyamide is selected from the group consisting of: polycaprolactam PA6, polyhexamethylene adipamine PA66, copolymer PA6 / 66, or mixtures of these polyamides. A pourable food container or food packaging film according to claims 1-5, characterized in that it has a low water vapor permeability at a wall thickness of 15 to 40 pm, a maximum of 120 g / m ² per 24 hours at 25 ° C. , A pourable food container or food packaging film according to claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it has only one layer. Use of a food container or film according to claims 1 to 7 for producing smoked fatty products that are smoked with natural or liquid smoke, said container or film having a water vapor permeability of less than 120 g / m ² at a wall thickness of not more than 25 µm. 24 hours at 25 ° C.