Two Major Packaging Technologies Help Ensure Food Packaging Safety

Aseptic packaging includes the sterilization and disinfection of packaging materials, the aseptic processing of the packaged food contents, and the aseptic treatment of the packaging environment.

In terms of market applications, the continued growth in the market share of new liquid dairy products and non-carbonated beverages will bring huge market demand for aseptic packaging; in addition, various volatile liquid products such as baijiu and red wine will gradually enter the downstream application fields of liquid packaging cartons as barrier technology is further improved. With advances in aseptic packaging materials and technologies, the expansion of downstream application fields will drive continued growth in demand for supporting aseptic packaging. Aseptic paper packaging is gaining great popularity in industries such as food and beverages.

With the rapid development of China's pharmaceutical and food industries, broad development space has been opened up for paper packaging. At present, white card paper is widely used in the packaging of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, electronic products, clothing, toys, gifts, tobacco and other products. Micro-fluting corrugated paper can be widely used in the packaging of electronic products, toys, breakfast foods, household appliances, etc.; while aseptic paper packaging is gaining great popularity in industries such as food and beverages.

Under the trend of environmentally friendly packaging: aseptic paper packaging gets onto the 'fast track' of development

Aseptic paper packaging materials have outstanding advantages and good development prospects in China. In China, milk is mainly produced in the north, while milk consumption in the south is greater than in the north, making ambient-temperature packaging of milk particularly important. In 2011, the total output value of China's dairy industry reached 236.1 billion yuan, and liquid dairy product consumption reached approximately 20.9 million tons. According to predictions by industry insiders, at an annual growth rate of 10%, China's liquid dairy product consumption will reach 30 million tons by 2015. The sterilization methods commonly used for packaging materials at present mainly include chemical sterilization and ultraviolet sterilization, which can be described as two major tools for food packaging moving toward aseptic processing.

1. The fungicide used in chemical sterilization must have strong bactericidal capability, cause no corrosion to equipment, produce no harmful substances during the sterilization process, and leave little residue in packaging materials.

At present, the most commonly used fungicide is hydrogen peroxide, commonly known as oxygenated water. The bactericidal capability of hydrogen peroxide is related to its concentration and temperature; the higher the concentration and the higher the temperature, the better its bactericidal capability. The concentration of hydrogen peroxide commonly used for sterilization is 25% to 30%, and the temperature is 60 to 65 degrees Celsius. Sterilization with hydrogen peroxide should be combined with heat treatment, because the bactericidal efficacy of hydrogen peroxide is better when it evaporates from the material surface under heat.

Sterilizing packaging containers with hydrogen peroxide involves immersing the packaging containers in hydrogen peroxide or directly spraying hydrogen peroxide onto the packaging containers for sterilization, and then applying thermal radiation to them so that the hydrogen peroxide remaining on the packaging containers completely evaporates together with the hot air and decomposes into harmless water vapor and oxygen.

1. Generally speaking, the sterilization effect of ultraviolet light is related to its wavelength, irradiation intensity and irradiation time, and the effect is strongest when the wavelength is around 250 to 360 nanometers.

The bactericidal principle of ultraviolet light is mainly that, after ultraviolet irradiation, nucleic acids in microbial cells undergo chemical reactions, thereby causing metabolic disorders in the microorganisms and making them lose their ability to proliferate. Ultraviolet sterilization is one of the more effective methods for aseptic or clean packaging; it has the advantages of leaving no chemical residue, high safety, simple use and low cost. However, compared with hydrogen peroxide, its sterilization effect is not as good, and it should generally be used in combination with other sterilization methods.