NZ556225A

NZ556225A - Process for packaging and drying meat products

Info

Publication number: NZ556225A
Application number: NZ556225A
Authority: NZ
Inventors: Ekkehardt Th Schafer
Original assignee: World Pac Int Ag
Priority date: 2006-06-30
Filing date: 2007-06-29
Publication date: 2008-04-30
Also published as: BRPI0702940A; AU2007203068A1; EP1872663B1; CA2592678C; EP1872663A1; ES2327787T3; ATE433666T1; RU2443115C2; DE502007000881D1; DE102006030692A1; US20080003336A1; PL1872663T3; CA2592678A1; WO2008000519A1; RU2007124383A

Abstract

A process for packaging meat products, particularly sausages, is disclosed. The process includes transporting a flat foil (1) of plastic material to a filling tube (7) and converting the flat foil (1) into a cylindrical shape surrounding the filling tube (7) to form a foil hose (1a). The overlapping edges are hot-sealed and the meat products are filled via the filling tube (7) into the foil hose (1a), and the hose (1a) is closed at its ends and divided into parts. The flat foil (1) is to be used on raw-meat products, particularly on raw uncooked sausages and semidurable products. The foil (1) consists of a fleece which is at least 80% made of long plastic fibres and has a water and/or steam permeability of at least 40 g/m2d and wherein the packed raw-meat products are made durable by removal of moisture and/or smoking.

Description

10053904076* ;PATENTS FORM 5 Our Ref: 816111NZ ;PATENTS ACT 1953 Dated: 29 June 2007 ;COMPLETE SPECIFICATION ;Process for packaging and drying meat products ;We, World Pac International AG, of Industriestr. 8,9486 Schaanwald, Germany, hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: ;1 ;0013e(850176_1 ):irg intellectual property office of n.z. ;2 9 JUN 2007 RECEIVED ;la ;Process for Packaging and Drying Meat Products ;Field of the Invention ;The invention relates to a process for packaging meat products, particularly sausages, by transporting a flat foil of plastic material to a filling tube and converting the 5 foil there into an approximately cylindrical shape surrounding the filling tube and hot-sealing the overlapping edges, with the meat product being filled via the filling tube into the resulting foil hose and subsequently closing the hose at its end and dividing it into parts. ;Background of the Invention ;10 The cited process is used on a large scale for packaging sausages and also for packaging cheese, herb butter, and the like. It is an important advantage that the foil which can be pulled from rolls of foil can be shaped to various sizes and automatically hot-sealed at the overlapping edge regions and, at the same time, filled with the product. After filling with the desired quantity of product, the hose is closed by two closely spaced 15 adjacent clips or the like and cut between the clips so that the sausages issue from the packaging and filling machine as individual units. ;The processing employs water-vapour permeable and oxygen permeable monofoils or composite foils, where it is important that the foil can be readily hot-sealed in the proper form so that the overlapping edges can be joined rapidly and securely by 20 application of heat. ;However, the above-described process to date is used only with fully ripened meat products such as sausages to be heated in water, sausages to be boiled, and other food products such as herb butter, cheese spread etc., which means, only with food stuffs which after packaging do not require further ripening but are to be tightly sealed against 25 the environment and, if anything at all, must be boiled. ;By contrast, with all other meat products which are to be ripened or preserved by drying, for example unprocessed sausages, semi-durable goods and the like - salami sausages as the most widely known type - it is necessary to make the packaging skins either from natural gut or non-edible cellulose fibre guts and collagen guts, if necessary 30 reinforced by cellulose, because only such water vapour permeable wrappings allow drying of the packaged product. But the handling of such wrappings is certainly much more involved. Thus, in the case of natural gut there is the problem that they cannot be produced and processed at low cost and, moreover, are available only in certain sizes. If, ;]027596v1:mrr:hxa intellectual PROPERTY office of n.z ;2 8 NOV 2007 ;2 ;instead skins made of collagen and, if necessary, of cellulose are used, a pre-treatment with acids, salt solutions and water for coagulation, neutralisation and rinsing is required. ;The manufacture of the cited skins is a further expensive process. After their manufacture, the skins must be gathered, i.e., they must be pulled together to form a 5 caterpillar so that they can be transported with low space requirements to the filling station. This implies moistening the skins prior to gathering so that they become soft and flexible and are not damaged by the mechanical load of the gathering wheels of the gathering machine. After the gathering operation the gathered, moist skins have to be dried to the desired residual moisture content to prevent the development of mould. 10 Before the filling operation, the processor or filling operator must remoisten the caterpillars by soaking in water so that the skins can be applied to the filling machine. This soaking implies a high risk in terms of hygiene. ;However, if the gathered skin is supplied to the filling operator in the moistened state, i.e., ready for filling, a chemical compound must be added to the water required for is moistening in order to prevent the development of mould. Besides that, the moist caterpillar must be transported to the filling station in a container impermeable for water vapour in order to prevent drying. ;With these considerations in mind, there is a need to improve the known packaging process for meat products so that even raw meat products, which after 20 packaging must undergo a drying and ripening process, can be packaged and the aforementioned problems are eliminated. ;Object of the Invention ;It is an object of the present invention to substantially overcome or at least ameliorate one or more of the disadvantages of the prior art, or to at least provide a useful 25 alternative. ;Summary of the Invention ;There is firstly disclosed herein a process for packaging meat products, particularly sausages, by transporting a flat foil of plastic material to a filling tube and converting the flat foil into a cylindrical shape surrounding the filling tube to form a foil 30 hose, hot-sealing overlapping edges, with the meat products being filled via the filling tube into the resulting foil hose and subsequently closing the hose at its ends and dividing it into parts, wherein the flat foil is to be used on raw-meat products, particularly on raw uncooked sausages and semi-durable products, and consists of a fleece which is at least ;!027596vl :mrr:hxa intellectual property" officf of n.2. ;2 8 NUV 2007 ;H I" A P I u i~ t-««. ;3 ;80% made of long plastic fibres and has a water and/or steam permeability of at least 40 g/m2d and wherein the packed raw-meat products are made durable by removal of moisture and/or smoking. ;Such a fleece foil can replace the natural guts and collagen skins and fibre skins which to date have been required in the production of raw sausages. The preparation and manufacture of the skins is in this way substantially simplified. Moistening before the gathering of the skins and their filling is no longer required. Furthermore, the hygienic conditions are much improved when the foil according to at least a preferred embodiment of the invention is employed. ;In order to obtain the desired drying and ripening in a time span as short as possible, it is recommended to have a water and steam permeability of the foil of more than 100 g/m2d, preferably more than 150 g/m2d. ;Besides that, the foil should be gas permeable so that gas developing during ripening can escape. ;In order to obtain optimal realisation of these features, it is recommended to extrude the plastic fibres with a fibre length of at least 5 mm, and preferably of at least 50 mm. Work with a continuous fibre is most advantageous. The fibres are laid down everywhere in side-by-side or on the top relationship and thereafter welded together at the points of contact or crossing. In this way, the desired permeability, as well as the required strength, can be ensured. ;The thickness of the foils is chosen so that a foil weight of at least 30 g/m2 and at most 300 g/m2 results. The preferred range extends from 40 g/m2 to 200 g/m2. ;Suitable materials for the fibres are particularly polyvinylidene chloride, polyamide, polypropylene, polyester and/or polyethylene of which a fleece foil capable of hot sealing is made in the spun bond process. It is also within the scope of the invention at least in a preferred form to use fibres of other materials as long as the fibres have a coating of a plastic which can be welded or hot sealed, so particularly a thermoplastic material. ;It is essential and nonconventional for the packaging of raw meat products that the fleece foil is applied to the filling tube without preceding moistening. This holds also when prior to application to the filling tube, the foil has been brought into the gathered form. ;In general, the raw meat products filled in then have to ripen for some time. Therefore, in a further development of the invention at least in a preferred form it is recommended to treat the foil with preservatives, ;1027596vl:mrr:hxa particularly potassium sorbate, before intellectual property office op m2 ;2 8 NOV 2007 ;the filling operation. This reduces the risk of mould development which in raw meat products is substantially higher than in the conventional filled products. ;Furthermore, it may be advantageous to treat the foil with propyleneglycol and/or glycerol so that it becomes softer and can be more readily peeled off. ;The aforementioned treatments can be advantageously carried out by dissolving the potassium sorbate and/or the propyleneglycol and/or the glycerol in water and by passing the foil through an immersion bath obtained in this way. After that, residues of the solution adhering to the surface are removed by rollers, wipers or the like. The cited immersion bath conveniently contains about 10 to 30% propyleneglycol, about 5 to 20% glycerol, and about 1 to 10% potassium sorbate. ;In order to facilitate the disengagement of the foil from the product, it is recommended that, depending on the type of product, to provide the foil with an anti-adhesion coating on the side facing the product. The thickness of this anti-adhesion coating is at least one |_i. It preferably consists of cellulose, acrylate and other substances known to those skilled in the art, and also fluid smoking agents and other flavour substances are suitable if the taste of the product is to be influenced at the same time. Other coatings of the foil can be contemplated, for instance to control its permeability. ;The foil is advantageously made completely of long plastic fibres but it is also within the scope of the invention at least in a preferred form to add from about 15% to about 20% of nonintrinsic fibres, particularly cellulose fibres or derivatives thereof. ;In the case of raw meat products it is essential that the product can be made durable after packaging by removal of moisture and by smoking, that means, that the foil has adequate water and/or steam permeability. This permeability is reduced in the overlap region of the foil edges, i.e., in the region in which the edges are welded together to form a hose. It is therefore recommended to prick this area after hot sealing or welding, i.e., to provide a large number of pinholes so that there the gas and moisture permeabilities are about as good as in the foil region which was not hot sealed. ;Brief Description of the Drawings ;A preferred form of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: ;Figure 1, a schematical representation of the filling system; and ;Figure 2, the various process steps. ;1027596vl :mrr:hxa intellectual property office of n.z. ;2 8 NOV 2007 RECEIVED ;5 ;Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments ;In Figure 1 there is seen a roll with the flat foil 1. This is a fibre fleece made from a continuous fibre. The fibre is coextruded from a PET (polyethylene terephtalate) core and a PE (polyethylene) coating and has a diameter of 5 n to about 10 (a, s advantageously from 10 to about 50 (a. The fibre is laid out in ordered fashion or randomly in strands in side-by-side or in superimposed relationship so that a surface weight of about 20 g/m to about 200 g/m results. This fleece is then hot sealed at points so that a so-called spun bond material is obtained. It is cut to the desired width (about 3 m) and length (about 2000 m) and wound on supply rolls. Foil is cut therefrom in a width 10 such that upon reshaping to the form of a hose there is obtained the desired size for the sausage with an edge overlap of a few millimetres so that the width of the overlap suffices for joining the two foil edges in a hot-sealing station. ;After its production, that flat foil is advantageously treated with preservatives so that it becomes more suitable for later use on raw meat products. This treatment is 15 conveniently effected by a solution of bactericidal and/or fungicidal preservatives. These substances are applied to the foil by spraying or with the aid of an immersion bath. After that, if necessary, they are wiped from the surface of the foil but remain in the interior of the foil and in this way have a longer-lasting effect than with preservation by heat or drying. Sorbates, benzoates, sulfites, nitrides, acetates, propionates and other substances 20 allowed by foodstuff laws are suitable. Particularly suitable for the case under consideration is an aqueous solution with sorbic acid or sorbates, and with other substances, if required. ;The foil 1 which was treated in this way is pulled from a supply roll via a bobbing roller 2 adapted to move freely in the vertical direction and is then transferred to 25 a shaping shoulder 3. The foil is brought by means of this shoulder in known fashion into the shape of a cylinder and thereby placed around a filling tube 7. The foil 1 which in this way was put into the form of a hose la is then guided along a welding beam 4 which heats the overlapping foil edges and hot seals them. The area of hot sealing can be pricked with pinholes in order to improve its permeability. The hose-shaped, hot sealed 30 skin is transported by conveyer belts 5 into the area 8 of gathering situated close to the discharge opening of the filling tube 7. This is followed by a clipping machine 6 at which the foil hose is clipped and divided into individual parts. ;1027596vl :mrr:hxa intellectual property office of n.z. ;2 8 NOV 2007 ;RECEIVED ;Figure 2 shows the details of the process steps. ;In section a there are recognised the hose's end closed by clips lb and the gathered part 8 situated on the filling tube 7. After applying clips to the end of the hose, the filling operation is started whereby the closed hose end is pushed forward into the position shown in section b. After expulsion of the desired portion, the metering unit triggers the constricting operation. In known fashion and as shown in section c, the hose is for this purpose constructed by figures lc and, as shown in section d, a pigtail Id is drawn. As shown in section e, two spaced clips are applied by the clipping machine onto the drawn-out pigtail. After that, the knife 9 cuts off the filled sausage between the clips. The sausage is removed with a conveyor belt or a collection bowl. The process is repeated on the closed hose end on the right side. ;Of course, it is also within the scope of the invention at least in a preferred form to provide the inventive fleece foil as a previously prepared hose hot sealed along the overlapping longitudinal edges and to feed this hose to the filling tube 7. ;Summarising, the invention at least in a preferred embodiment has the advantage that is now possible to package rapidly and hygienically raw meat products, particularly raw sausage and semi-durable (medium shelf life) goods (such as salami) of any size and to ripen them in the package. Furthermore, the fleece foil according to at least a preferred embodiment of the invention can be worked to form rolls with a length of up to 2000 m, whereas the lengths of earlier guts were limited to 60-80 m. ;I027596vl :mrr:hxa intellectual property office of n.z ;2 8 NOV 2007 RECEIVED ;7 *

Claims

We claim:

1. A process for packaging meat products, particularly sausages, by transporting a flat foil of plastic material to a filling tube and converting the flat foil into a cylindrical shape surrounding the filling tube to form a foil hose, hot-sealing overlapping 5 edges, with the meat products being filled via the filling tube into the resulting foil hose and subsequently closing the hose at its ends and dividing it into parts, wherein the flat foil is to be used on raw-meat products, particularly on raw uncooked sausages and semi-durable products, and consists of a fleece which is at least 80% made of long plastic fibres and has a water and/or steam permeability of at least 40 g/m2d and wherein the packed 10 raw-meat products are made durable by removal of moisture and/or smoking.

2. The process according to claim 1, wherein the water and/or steam permeability is at least 150 g/m2d.

3. The process according to claim 1, wherein the plastic fibres have a length of at least 50 mm, preferably at least 100 mm, up to a continuous endless fibre. 15

4. The process according to claim 2, wherein a weight of the flat foil is at least 20 g/m2, at most 300 g/m2, and is preferably between 40 g/m2 and 200 g/m2.

5. The process according to claim 1, wherein the plastic fibres consist of polyamide, polypropylene, polyester and/or polyethylene.

6. The process according to claim 1, wherein the plastic fibres have a 20 coating of material which can be sealed by heat or high-frequency energy, particularly of thermoplastic synthetic materials.

7. The process according to claim 6, wherein the coating has a lower melting point than the enclosed material.

8. The process according to claim 1, wherein the plastic fibres are laid 25 down on top of each other and joined with a spun-bond process to form a fleece foil.

9. The process according to claim 1, wherein the foil is applied without moistening the filling tube.

10. The process according to claim 1, wherein the flat foil is treated with preservatives. 30

11. The process according to claim 1, wherein the foil is treated with a solution of propyleneglycol and/or glycerol.

12. The process according to claim 11, wherein the solution contains, in addition, potassium sorbate. 1027596vl:mrr:hxa intellectual property office of n.z 2 8 NOV 2007 RECEIVED 8

13. The process according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the solution contains about 10 to 30% propyleneglycol, about 5 to 20% glycerol, and, if necessary, about 1 to 10% potassium sorbate.

14. The process according to claim 1, wherein a side of the foil facing the meat product has a coating, particularly an anti-adhesion coating.

15. The process according to claim 14, wherein a thickness of the anti-adhesion coating is at least one |n.

16. The process according to claim 14, wherein the anti-adhesion coating consists of cellulose, acrylate and/or a fluid smoking agent.

17. The process according to claim 1, wherein the foil has at most 15% to 20% nonintrinsic fibres.

18. The process according to claim 1, wherein pinholes are arranged at the overlapping, hot-sealed edges in order to increase the gas and moisture permeability.

19. Use of flat foil in the automatic packaging of food stuffs, particularly in accordance with the process defined in any one of claims 1 to 18, wherein the flat foil to be used on raw-meat products, particularly on raw uncooked sausages and semi-durable products, consists of a fleece which is at least 80% made of long plastic fibres and has a water and/or steam permeability of at least 40 g/m2d and wherein the packaged raw-meat products are made durable by the removal of moisture and/or smoking.

20. The use according to claim 19, wherein the foil is provided in the form of a previously prepared hose which is hot sealed along overlapping longitudinal edges.

21. A process for packing meat products, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings. World Pac International AG By the Attorneys for the Applicant SPRUSON & FERGUSON 1027596vl:mrr:hxa intellectual property office of n.z 2 8 NOV 2007 RECEIVED