JP2005170488A - Food package - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a low-cost food package which is convenient, provides an excellent balance in their nutrition, holds well freshness, and has no possibility of spoiling characteristics of different foods in regard to packaging a plurality of foods with different characteristics in one package. <P>SOLUTION: The food package is a container having respectively sites for individually storing two or more foods, at least one kind of which comprises one or more vegetables and fruits, and the container is hermetically sealed with a lid material after the foods are stored in the sites of the container. In addition, the food package is the container having respectively sites for individually storing two or more foods, at least one kind of which comprises one or more fermentation foods, and the container is hermetically sealed with the lid material after the foods are stored in the sites of the container. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a food package.

In recent years, the number of consumers who use simple meals such as convenience store lunches, rice balls, beef bowls and hamburgers in fast food stores has increased, and consumers' awareness of health has also increased rapidly. It is also necessary to consider nutritional balance in the product design for meals. For example, the fact that cup salads are one of the hit products at convenience stores is an indication of such consumer needs. With the development of products tailored to the various needs of consumers and the increasing complexity of recipes, it is no longer possible to cope with the current packaging form.
For example, when a fresh vegetable salad is packaged in a current fitting container, the color changes to brown in a short time, and wilting is observed. If consumers take home and leave in the refrigerator for a while, the quality will be considerably poor even within the expiration date. In addition, there are products that contain ingredients such as tuna in trays etc. in the mating container so that they are mixed just before the consumer eats, but it is often the case that the juice leaks and the contents are mixed upside down is there. There are problems such as deterioration in freshness, restriction of recipes, and taste not as originally designed, which could not be solved with the current mating container.

Products with a single package of processed meat products, processed fishery products, raw vegetables, fermented foods, etc. in pursuit of simplicity and nutritional balance have been poor in shelf life and limited to daily products. In consideration of leakage of juice and maintaining freshness, hermetic packaging is preferable, but simply sealing and packaging these plural foods has technical problems.
In general food packaging, a barrier packaging material is often used for the purpose of maintaining freshness. This is because oxygen and moisture cause deterioration of food quality, and it is well known that barrier film wrapping materials are often used in processed meat products such as ham and sausage and processed fishery products.

On the other hand, fruits and vegetables differ greatly from other foods. Fruits and vegetables are breathing not only before harvesting but also after harvesting, and even after processing such as washing and cutting, thereby consuming energy, exhausting, and degrading freshness. On the other hand, when oxygen is cut off, anaerobic breathing begins, and it becomes impossible to eat due to the generation of off-flavors. When packaged with a packaging material having an appropriate gas permeability, the freshness of the fruit and vegetables is maintained for a long time by balancing the breathing of the fruits and the oxygen that enters the package through the packaging. Packaging with such a design is called MA packaging. These are described in Japanese Patent No. 2136517.
In addition to fruits and vegetables, fermented foods, unlike ordinary foods, have the problem of generating carbon dioxide. If it is sealed in a normal manner, it will gradually bulge and in extreme cases it will burst. Consumers do not purchase products that have swelled without rupture. As a solution to this problem, there is JP-A-07-195634 which gives a packaging material gas permeability.
That is, when packaging such different foods, contradictory performances are required, one being gas barrier property and the other being moderate gas permeability.
In this case, when normal food is put in one of the divided containers and food containing fruits and vegetables such as salad is put in one, it must be hermetically sealed with a different lid film to maintain good quality. Productivity was poor, leading to increased costs.
Japanese Patent No. 2136517 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-195634

  The present invention relates to packaging a plurality of foods having different characteristics as a single package, which is simple and excellent in nutritional balance, and maintains a good freshness and does not impair the characteristics of different foods. Is to be provided at a low cost.

The present invention
(1) A container having a part for individually storing two or more kinds of food, wherein the food includes one or more kinds of fruits and vegetables, and the container is a rear cover material that contains the food in the part of the container. It is a food package that hermetically seals.
(2) A container having a part for individually storing two or more kinds of food, wherein the food includes one or two or more fermented foods, and the food is stored in the part of the container with a back cover material. A food package for hermetically sealing a container.
(3) A container having a portion for individually storing two or more kinds of foods, wherein the food includes each of fruits and vegetables and fermented food, and the container is covered with a rear cover material that stores the food in the portion of the container. A food package for hermetically sealing.
As a more preferable form,
(4) The cover material has at least one or more fine holes at a position corresponding to at least one portion of the portion that stores the food, and the opening area of the fine holes of the cover material is 1 × 10 ^{−8 to 4} mm. ² , the oxygen permeation amount of the lid material is 10 cc / m ² · 24 hrs · atm or less, the oxygen permeation amount of the material to be the container is 5 cc / m ² · 24 hrs · atm or less, and after filling with food, it is sealed Before sealing or during hermetically sealing, the container is placed in an atmosphere at a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure. After filling the food, the container is filled with nitrogen, carbon dioxide, oxygen, or a mixed gas containing two or more of these. A food package that fills and cooks in a microwave.

  According to the food package of the present invention, a plurality of foods having different characteristics can be made into one package, and a food package containing a food that is simple and excellent in nutritional balance and has a good freshness can be reduced. It became possible to provide at a cost.

The food packaging body in the present invention is composed of a bottom material and a lid material, and the bottom material has a sealing surface between the lid material and a part capable of separately storing two or more kinds of foods. The number of parts to be stored may be provided as many as necessary according to the number of foods to be stored. Each part that stores food is stored in a separate part for each type of food. For example, a mixture of several kinds of vegetables such as mixed vegetables is regarded as one kind of fruit and vegetables and stored in one part. You may do it.
The vertical cross-sectional shape of the part is not particularly limited, but is not particularly limited, for example, a concave shape, a semicircular shape, a semi-elliptical shape, a quadrangular shape, and a triangular shape, and is generally located below the sealing surface with the lid member. In addition, the cross-sectional shape of the plane is not particularly limited, such as a circular shape, a quadrangular shape, an elliptical shape, etc., and the size of each part may be determined by the amount of food stored, and the shape need not be the same, What is necessary is just to determine according to the shape of the foodstuff accommodated.

  There are two or more kinds of food stored in each part for storing food, but at least one of them needs to be either fruits or vegetables or fermented food. Therefore, any one of fruits and vegetables and fermented foods may be included. For example, two or more types of fruits and vegetables may be stored in different storage locations, and two or more types of fermented foods may be different one by one. You may store in a storage location. In addition, the fruits and vegetables and the fermented foods may be stored in different storage locations, and naturally, the combination of the fruits and vegetables and the fermented foods may be one or both of a plurality of types of foods. For example, a combination of two types of fruits and vegetables and one type of fermented food, a combination of three types of fruits and vegetables and two types of fermented foods may be used, and foods other than fruits and vegetables and fermented foods may be stored in different storage locations.

Although it does not specifically limit as fruit and vegetables in this invention, For example, it refers to the thing of the state which is breathing, such as vegetables and fruits. These may be not only whole vegetables but also washed, trimmed and cut. Specifically, lettuce, sunny lettuce, cabbage, red cabbage, Chinese cabbage, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, komatsuna, celery, parsley, nabana, various herbs, leek, leek, kikuna, mizuna, honey bee, Takana, saladna Leafy vegetables such as carrot, radish, turnip, radish, turnip, burdock, onion, beans, potato, sweet potato, sweet potato, yam, yam Potatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, morrow cucumbers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, peppers, paprika, shrimp, pumpkins, bitter gourd, corn, winter strawberries, ginnan and other fruits and vegetables, bean sprouts, small soybean sprouts, broccoli and other sprout , Sprout vegetables such as alfalfa, shiitake mushrooms, enokitake mushrooms, shimeji mushrooms, matsutake mushrooms, mushrooms, maitake mushrooms, grapes, citrus fruits, figs, cucumbers, melons, watermelons, pineapples, apples, pears Fruits such as west, peach, plum, apricot, apricot, cherry, loquat, ume, akebi, banana, papaya, mango, blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, lychee, kiwi, chestnut and strawberry. Naturally, edible flowers such as edible chrysanthemums are also included.
The fruits and vegetables are one or more of the fruits and vegetables selected from these, which means foods that are contained in the raw state, and two or more of these fruits and vegetables Some of them are mixed into one, and naturally mixed with other foods such as dressing, cooked vegetables, ham, cheese.

Although fermented food is not specifically limited, For example, it is a food manufactured by fermentation, such as pickles, kimchi, plum dried, natto, miso, and moromi.
For example, meat and processed products such as rice and natto, rice and kimchi, ham, sausage, grilled pork and salads, natto and chopped rice cake, moromi and cucumber, salad and cut fruit can be freely commercialized It becomes possible. For example, three types and four types of combinations of rice, hamburger, salad, cut cabbage, cut onion, raw meat, and kimchi can be freely selected.

The material of the container and lid used in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it can be used for food packaging.
Examples include films and sheets of polyethylene, polyethylene copolymers, polypropylene, other polyolefins, polystyrene, polyesters, polyamides, polyvinyl chloride, polyacrylonitrile, etc., and containers are formed from these films and sheets. Also used as a lid. These materials may be used alone or in a copolymer or blend. Moreover, you may use as a multilayer film and multilayer sheet containing these materials.
The polyethylene here includes high density polyethylene, medium density polyethylene, low density polyethylene, linear low density polyethylene, metallocene polyethylene and the like. The polyethylene copolymer includes an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer, an ethylene acrylate copolymer, an ethylene acrylic acid copolymer, an ionomer, an ethylene propylene copolymer, and the like.
Similarly, polyesters include polyethylene terephthalate resins called APET, CPET, PETG and the like, as well as resins having an ester bond such as polyethylene naphthalate, polylactic acid, polycarbonate, and polyamides are 6-nylon. , 6.6-nylon and other resins having an amide bond.
Any resin may be used that has been given a function by means of addition of a polymer resin, a low molecular substance, an inorganic substance, a filler, coating, or stretching.
For multilayering, means such as coextrusion, dry lamination, extrusion lamination, and coating may be used.
In addition to these, paper, synthetic paper, non-woven fabric, aluminum foil, synthetic resin foam, and the like may be laminated. Of course, printing may be performed.

The oxygen permeability of these films and sheets is not particularly limited, but is preferably 10 cc / m ² · 24 hrs · atm or less, for example. The oxygen permeability of the film or sheet molded into the container is more preferably 5 cc / m ² · 24 hrs · atm or less in consideration of the decrease in barrier properties after molding. This is to maintain freshness by reducing the amount of oxygen in food. In order to impart functions such as heat sealing properties, easy peel properties, and barrier properties, multilayer films, multilayer sheets and the like are preferred.

When the barrier property of the lid material is insufficient, it is preferable to provide the lid film with a contradictory performance by making a fine hole in a part of the material used for the lid material, which has been impossible in the past. Packaging can also be provided. As a matter of course, when the cover member is provided with a fine hole, it is necessary to have the fine hole at the position of the corresponding fruits and vegetables and fermented food.
Micropores one aperture area, 1 × is preferably ^{10 -8 ~4mm 2, 1 × 10} -4 ~1 × 10 -2 mm 2 is more preferable. It is technically difficult to control and open to less than 1 × 10 ⁻⁸ mm ² , leading to increased costs and being blocked by condensation, etc., and may not be as effective as designed. . If it exceeds 4 mm ² , there is a possibility that the risk of contamination is increased. In consideration of problems such as juice leakage, the pore diameter is preferably 1000 μm or less. In the case where a plurality of types of fruits and vegetables and fermented foods are used, if there is an opening area suitable for each, it is preferable to provide micropores accordingly.
The drilling method is not particularly limited. It may be perforated with a heated needle or by a non-contact method such as laser. Also, the timing for drilling may be anytime. It can be done before or after packaging.

The method for forming the container as the bottom material is not particularly limited, and any method such as vacuum forming, pressure forming, or vacuum / pressure forming may be used. Filling and packaging can be done while molding like a foam fill sealing machine.
After the container is filled with the contents, the container and the lid are sealed, but the means for sealing is not particularly limited, and for example, an ultrasonic seal, a heat seal, an impulse seal, or the like can be used.

In addition, for the purpose of improving the freshness maintaining effect before sealing the container and the lid material, it is preferable that the container is hermetically sealed with the lid material in an atmosphere at a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure. It is preferable to seal in an atmosphere in which a means such as gas replacement is taken with any one of oxygen and a mixed gas containing two or more of these.
The food package of the present invention may be a product that is cooked and eaten in a microwave oven.

<Example 1>
A sheet consisting of three layers of a mixture of nylon having a thickness of 500 μm, an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer, a linear polyethylene and an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer was prepared by a coextrusion method. In addition, a 50 μm thick lid material is produced with the same resin composition, and a container having two locations for storing food is formed by vacuum molding so that the inner layer is a mixture of linear polyethylene and ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer. did. The shape of the container storage part was concave, 20 g of sliced ham was placed on one side of the container storage part, and 20 g of cabbage shredded was placed on the other side. The container was hermetically sealed by heat sealing with the lid material described above.
In the portion of the cover material where the cabbage is cut into pieces, one per container and fine holes with an average opening area of 2.0 × 10 ⁻⁴ mm ² are provided. This was stored in a household refrigerator for 3 days. The temperature in the meantime was 5-12 degreeC. Good condition was maintained after 3 days and fresh ham and cabbage could be eaten easily.
The evaluation samples were n = 3 unless otherwise specified, and the samples stored in the refrigerator for 2 days and 3 days were evaluated. In the evaluation results, those that were good for storage for 2 days were omitted.
<Comparative Example 1>
A food package similar to Example 1 was prepared and stored. However, no fine holes were provided. There was no problem with what was stored for 2 days, but when it was opened after 2 days, a bad smell was generated in the cabbage.

<Example 2>
The container was hermetically sealed by heat sealing with a lid material in which 20 g each of grilled pork and Chinese cabbage kimchi were packed as contents with the same packaging material as in Example 1. However, sealing was performed after filling the container with nitrogen gas before sealing.
In the portion where the Chinese cabbage kimchi of the lid material has been put in advance, three per one container and fine holes with an average opening area of 8.0 × 10 ⁻⁴ mm ² are provided. This was similarly stored in a household refrigerator for 3 days. The good condition was maintained even after 3 days.
<Comparative example 2>
Although the food packaging body was produced similarly to Example 2, the micropore was not made in the lid | cover material. Two days later, the lid with kimchi was slightly swollen, but the taste did not change significantly. Three days later, the lid material of the part containing kimchi swelled and the appearance was poor.

<Example 3>
Using the container and the lid material of Example 1, a food packaging body in which 20 g each of ham and shredded cabbage was put in a manual cup sealer packaging machine was prepared. In this case, ham and shredded cabbage were weighed in advance and placed in a container, and then one worker operated the cup sealer and sealed it. In this case, about 100 pieces could be packaged in one hour. Five of these were similarly stored in a household refrigerator for 3 days. The good condition was maintained even after 3 days.
<Comparative Example 3>
In the production of a food packaging as in Example 3, the film of the ham packaging part was a 50 μm thick lid consisting of three layers of a mixture of ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer, linear polyethylene and ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer. The material film was used as it was, and the shredded cabbage was wrapped in a polyethylene film having a thickness of 50 μm, and a film perforated so that fine holes with an average open area of 2.0 × 10 ⁻⁶ mm ² were opened per package. .
In this case, the cup sealer was operated and sealed by one worker. In this case, only about 30 packages could be made in one hour. The storage stability of the contents was as good as in Example 3.

<Example 4>
The container was hermetically sealed by heat sealing with a lid material in which 20 g each of shredded cabbage and Chinese cabbage kimchi were packed as contents with the same packaging material as in Example 1.
In the cover material, one shredded cabbage portion is provided with one per container and an average opening area of 2.0 × 10 ⁻⁴ mm ² , and the Chinese cabbage kimchi portion is 3 per container, Micropores having an average aperture area of 8.0 × 10 ⁻⁴ mm ² are provided. This was similarly stored in a household refrigerator for 3 days. The good condition was maintained even after 3 days.

  The present invention can be used as a package for foods that need to maintain freshness when packaging different types of foods. In particular, it can be used in combinations such as fruits and vegetables and other foods, fermented foods and other foods.

Claims (10)

A container having a part for individually storing two or more kinds of foods, wherein the food contains one or more kinds of fruits and vegetables, and the container is hermetically sealed with a back cover material containing the foods in the part of the container A food packaging body characterized by that. A container having a part for individually storing two or more kinds of foods, wherein the food includes one or more kinds of fermented foods, and the container is sealed with a back cover material containing the foods in the part of the container A food package characterized by being sealed. It is a container having a part for individually storing two or more kinds of foods, and the food contains at least one kind of each of fruits and vegetables and fermented foods, and the container is covered with a back cover material containing the foods in the part of the container. A food package characterized by being hermetically sealed. The food packaging body according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the lid member has at least one or more micropores, and the micropores are provided on a lid positioned at at least one portion of the portion containing the food. . Food package according to claim 1, 2 or 3 the opening area of the micropores of the lid is 1 × 10 ^-8 ~4mm ^2. The food packaging body according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the oxygen permeation amount of the lid member is 10 cc / m ² · 24 hrs · atm or less. The food packaging body according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the oxygen permeation amount of the material to be the container is 5 cc / m ² · 24 hrs · atm or less. The food package according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the food filled in the container is placed in an atmosphere at a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure before or during hermetically sealing. The food package according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein the food filled in the container is filled with nitrogen, carbon dioxide, oxygen, or a mixed gas containing two or more of these. The food packaging body according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the food packaging body is cooked and eaten in a microwave oven.