Exploring Excellence: The Ultimate Guide to Frozen Food Packaging Materials for Quality and Efficiency

It's well-known that heating up a frozen meal in the oven or microwave may be rather handy, whether it be the cleaning, picking, dicing and chopping .

You need not worry about any of those as long as you have a frozen meal ready, to take from your freezer all u need to do is just heat, and serve. 

In such a situation, haven’t you wondered what helps it be a ‘ready to go’ food product? Well there you go! it’s none other than the high quality  packaging for frozen products.

The quality and hygiene when it comes to purchasing frozen food products is a big concern, thus if a customer fully believes a brand while purchasing a frozen product it’s because of its strong packaging. 

It’s pretty simple ,a customer only makes a purchase of a frozen food product if it trusts the brand and what exactly helps the brand in maintaining that trust? It’s the brand’s packaging.

frozen food packaging material requirements

The packaging of frozen food is an evolving procedure that calls for the utmost amount of attention to detail. When it comes to packaging of frozen products u need to make sure that safety and quality is your first and foremost concern. 

We often get asked about the different kinds of packaging materials adopted by a packaging company for the packaging of frozen products.

Depending on their moisture level, most frozen food products tend to expand by as much as 8%-9% while freezing. Thus we must ensure that the frozen product has a strong, flexibly and withstanding packaging.

While deciding on a packaging material for a frozen product , ensure that;

• It can withstand temperature from 0 to -40c 

• It should withstand external threats 

• The standards for frozen food packaging require that certain aspects of the package's features must endure through the course of its life. Such as the product information, expiration and manufacturing date, ingredient list, nutrition, country of origin, serving size and statements about health benefits etc.

• Ensure that it’s easy to fill, seal and store.

What materials are generally used for the packaging of a frozen product ?

Tin cans, cardboard, laminated paper, Shrink wraps and flexible and rigid plastic materials are frequent choices for frozen food packaging.

Here are some of the common packaging materials used for frozen products;

Polyethylene film (PE film)

If you've ever wondered why food packaging uses polyethylene, the short answer is that it has a lot of unique qualities that make using it on edible items simple and safe such as its non-toxicity, versatility, lightweightness, cost-efficiency etc.

PE derivatives 

It is a kind of packaging material that is used in mostly all the industries including food & beverage. This include shrink wraps, rigid and flexible packaging, and also at times single-use disposable packaging.

Product manufacturers and packaging industry prefers this due to its high versatility and durability.

Its high tolerance against chemicals, low moisture absorption, and the fact that it does not retain bacterias makes it even more desirable to the industry.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)

PET is often considered as one of the best materials for packaging bottles; the packaging industry prefers this due to its low production cost, lightweightness ,transparent nature and its remarkable strength.

Cardboard and laminated paper

A cardboard packaging is used to protect whatever that box contains. Corrugated cardboard is sandwiched between two layers of cardboard to build cardboard boxes.

This is supposed to prevent the items present in the box from being damaged, and it does a pretty good job at that.

Tin cans

Food-grade tin cans are produced by electroplating tin onto iron and compared to iron, tin is much less reactive. Thus food does not come in contact with the iron which prevents it from getting spoiled.

Wax Coated Cardboards 

Wax coated cardboards are used in case of frozen food where the package itself needs to be heated.

These cardboards are heat resistant which makes it highly convenient for the users as they can heat it directly but putting it in the microwave as such.

Flexible packaging for frozen food 

Flexible packaging bags are generally made out of foils, food grain plastics, and other safe food materials.

When it comes to storing pre-cooked meals, vegetables, fruits these sort of packaging are made use of. stand up pouches are often used as an other alternative

Lidding Films packaging 

Plastic film called lidding film is used to make lids for different kinds of containers.

High-quality, full-colour branding and visual design components can be put on lidding films to assist draw customers' attention in the frozen food aisle.

They are also FDA approved and food-grade. These packaging also provides full transparency of the item that it contains.

Closing and sealing of Packaging

Closures for packaging are just as crucial as the materials used in the package.

Premium seals guarantee total defence against the outside world while also enhancing the packaging's aesthetic appeal.

Although the type of sealing technology to use depends on the type of packaging film, here are some common methods to consider-

• In Direct heat sealing uses two jaws with a constant high temperature to seal the openings of a wide range of plastic packaging materials. It is suitable especially for thicker films like polypropylene.

• Impulse heat sealing - An impulsive electric current is applied by this sealing method. When sealing is finished, a piece of wire is instantly heated and cooled. A less expensive option to the direct heat sealing process is impulse heat sealing.

In the present situation laminated pouches and stand pouches are gaining popularity