Performance Packaging, a US based supplier of flexible and folding carton packaging, has introduced a new process to extend the shelf life of packaged foods.
The Airshield process is designed to chemically remove oxygen from rigid and flexible packages including pouches and packages which contain fitments or solid closures.
The new capability, which has been in development for two years, will be used for flexible pouches of foods found through two of Performance Packaging’s patented offerings including PouchPops and SipP pouches.
Planned to be made available to food processors and packagers by early 2017, the patent pending process uses compounds considered generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Performance Packaging president Rob Reinders said: “Airshield provides oxygen ‘scavenging’ (the removal of oxygen) and an oxygen barrier all in one product.
“Airshield includes a polymer-incorporated, powder-based additive which removes the oxygen that is trapped during the filling process and then acts as an enhanced-oxygen barrier to keep the oxygen out of the container to extend the product’s shelf life.”
Performance Packaging said that the Airshield can eliminate the need for a foil liner on the top of the package by adding it to a pouch cap.
Early tests of Airshield revealed that it can stabilize the ambient relative humidity within the container that is treated.
Capable of being applied to a low-cost polyolefin in flexible packaging, Airshield provides an oxygen environment equal to foil while reduce packaging costs.
In 2015, Performance Packaging unveiled Pixie Dust capability to sterilize flexible packaging and its contents.
Performance Packaging offers flexible packaging including rollstock, cold seal, spout pouches, zipper pouches, retort, and quad seal bags, as well as folding cartons, shrink materials, offset and roll stock labels and lid stock films.
