Sealing technology to reduce film packaging

International Food Partners Ltd (IFP) has released a sealing technology for flexible packaging that is claimed to be able to save food manufacturers thousands of tonnes of film per year, while also improving seal integrity.

Integrity Seal is a retrofit system for use on vertical form fill seal and horizontal flow-wrap machines. It uses weld technology to produce narrow bead seals that are 1 mm wide compared with conventional crimp seals which are typically 15 mm wide.

The narrow seal typically saves about 10% in the length of the pack and seals can be hermetic if required. Other benefits includes improvements in operational efficiencies and manufacturing costs.

One of the first companies to use the sealing technology is McCain Foods, who has recently installed Integrity Seal on all its filling machines in its three main factories in the UK.

“We are excited to bring Integrity Seal to market, as the food industry was in need of a superior seal system on packaging that uses flexible films,” said IFP Director Graham Clough.

“The concept of the development was to improve seal quality and strength, and seal flexible packaging in a way that will significantly reduce the amount of film required to make the seal,” said Clough. “I am delighted that we have achieved this and am confident that we can make a significant impact on reducing film packaging.”

McCain Foods Innovations and Central Engineering Director Dave Stewart commented: “The introduction of the Integrity Seal system has proved beneficial for McCain, with usage and operational savings in line with our expectations. Integrity Seal works well and is a very worthwhile conversion from the old-style crimp seal.”

Andy Dawe, Head of Retail at WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) said: “We are delighted to have supported the Integrity Seal concept. The potential packaging reductions are significant, as well as the opportunity to reduce food wastage through improved seal integrity. We look forward to more companies across the food industry adopting this new technology and benefitting from the impressive film savings and improved quality of seal.”

Currently, the Integrity Seal system is in use on frozen foods and whole potatoes, but there is the potential to expand use of this technology to many other categories including other fresh produce; cereals; crisps; nuts and fruits ’snack packs’; bakery products including cakes and bread; and confectionery.

Multi-Fill specialises in the manufacture of semiautomatic and automatic volumetric fillers for the home meal replacement, convenience foods and food service industries. It has installed a model MPFSH-075 automatic volumetric filler for a large Victorian food manufacturer - Casa Della Pasta at its Thomastown facility.

Casa Della Pasta supplies fresh, frozen and precooked pasta, ready meals, pasta and finishing sauces and pasta bakes. Until the Multi-Fill was introduced into production, the company was constrained by the sticky nature of its pasta products and was manually filling with a line output of 16 meals per minute.

Managing Director of Casa Della Pasta Angelo Sperlinga said: “Long pastas such as spaghetti or fettuccine was always a problem because of their sticky nature. Now we can dose efficiently and effectively with one clean dose. Most of our products were previously pre-weighed by hand. We had three to four people pre-dosing our products into trays as we could not get the weight or position right.

“This process is now achieved with one person who ensures that the feed hopper has product.

“I would say the purchase of the Multi-Fill machine has saved our company five employees per shift and the increased production volumes have given us the confidence to bring in new business,” said Angelo. “Â… and my staff love it!”.

The Multi-Fill MPFSH-075 volumetric filler was chosen by Casa Della Pasta as it is able to process difficult-to-handle products such as cooked rice, cooked pasta, cut fruit and vegetables, cereals and shredded meats and has an output speed of between 50 - 75 cpm, depending on the product and the container type.

The machine installed at Casa is said to have increased its production by 300% to 50 meals per minute, improved quality and eliminated the need for manual pre-dosing with a significant reduction in labour.