Xylan is an efficient barrier against oxygen, grease and aroma, and can therefore prolong the shelf-life of sensitive foodstuffs or be a sustainable alternative to the barrier materials on the market today. Since the raw material is water-soluble, the product can be coated on to paper, board or plastics without using other solvents. Tests have shown that the material can be used in contact with greasy and dry foodstuffs. Dispersion coating method is employed to apply a layer of Xylophane in a multi-layer package. Xylophane in powder form is dissolved in water and coated on to the substrate using roll, rod or blade. The coating is dried with warm air or infrared. Xylophane can be combined with other packaging materials such as paper, paperboard or plastics.

Website: www.theengineer.co.uk

Propac Industrial, Australia, offers a horizontal wrapper designed specifically for the packaging of fresh and delicate products. The machine offers perfect hermetic seals and modified atmosphere packaging. Typical industries using Propac units include fresh meat and seafood producers. Propac offers box motion technology; random length and fixed models are available. Vacuum models are also available.
The Propac HFFS has been specifically designed for wet and harsh environments. It features a hygenic and easy-to-clean design with minimum moving components and, as with all Propac units, it is manufactured from first-grade stainless steel. From an applications point of view, it can handle the packaging of random length products (e.g. different sized fish or meat portions). It also offers on-line vacuumization and gas flushing! Contact: Propac Industrial, Unit 2, 61 Prince William Drive, Seven Hills, NSW 2147, Australia. Tel/Fax: +61 (2) 9674 9261/9267.

Website: www.ferret.com.au

Standard-Knapp, the United States, has launched the PakMore™ continuous motion case packer for faster and smoother packaging of bottles in a variety of industries, including soft drink, beer, wine, food and household products. The PakMore uses Standard-Knapp’s innovative pressureless Zero-Gap infeed for smooth bottle laning, ensuring balanced lines and jam-resistant operation. With a capacity to pack up to 75 cases/min, PakMore greatly reduces operational costs.

Designed to maximize placement accuracy and minimize bottle damage, PakMore’s technologically advanced, dual-axis servo grouper and gripper heads pick up bottles and safely lower them into the case. The ergonomic design of PakMore’s automated head changeover feature and smart automatic fault recovery system ensure the packer is as reliable as it is efficient. Additional features of the PakMore allow for the flexibility of an in-line or peninsula layout as well as an optional tablock slitter. Contact: Standard-Knapp, United States of America. E-mail: info@standard-knapp.com.

Source : www.amonline.com

Multivac, Germany, a global market leader for thermoformers and a supplier of complete packaging solutions for food and non-food items, has unveiled its FreshSafe packaging. The FreshSafe concept enables packaged fruits and vegetables to stay fresh much longer than they would in open packaging. The FreshSafe system is implemented with sealed thermoformed packaging or trays. The ideal gas mixture is prepared by exchanging the gas atmosphere (MAP). In addition or as an alternative, microperforated film is used as well. For sensitive goods such as gooseberries or raspberries, the quality of the packaging solution is critical during transport and storage that influences the economic efficiency and sustainability of this business. Extending the shelf-life for just 3-4 days, which can be achieved with an innovative packaging solution, prevents large amounts of fruit from spoiling. FreshSafe ensures that fruits stay fresh about twice as long as with open packaging.

The company’s Traysealer T 700 is winning over customers. All components and parts are built with a rigorous focus on hygienic factors. The T 700 Traysealer is characterized by its maximum flexibility and easy, safe operation guaranteed by the intuitive machine control. The T 700 unites high performance with outstanding quality and safety standards. The T 250 Traysealer is designed for small and medium-sized batches of (fruit) trays. Except for inserting and removing the trays, all other processes are automatic on this model. Thirdly, the compact R145 Thermoformer has everything it needs for the perfect thermoforming of packing for fruits and vegetables. R145 Thermoformer has a space requirement of 3 m2. Contact: Ms. V. Haux, Multivac, Germany. E-mail: valeska. haux@multivac.de.

Source: www.freshplaza.com

Oxygen concentration is measured and the package is then placed in a controlled environment at ambient oxygen conditions and known temperature and humidity. After a given period of time, the gas within the package is tested again for its oxygen content. The deviation between the ‘before’ and ‘after’ readings enables an in situ permeability rate to be calculated for the finished package. This approach allows multiple packages to be examined simultaneously, whereas conventional package testing can only cope with one or a few packages.

Source: www.gasworld.com