When it comes to any product, packaging is important. Not only do you want your packaging to do a good job of marketing your product, you have to ensure your packaging protects the product inside from damage or spoilage. This is especially important in the food industry, where poor packaging can lead to ruined products and potential legal liability for food-borne illnesses.
There are a couple of different packaging techniques that are popular for food products: vacuum pouches and shrink sleeves. Both have some particular advantages and can be the better choice depending on the food involved.
Food that is likely to expire soon, such as meat and produce, does much better in a vacuum sealed package. Vacuum sealing preserves food three to five times longer than other forms of packaging. That’s important for a food that may only have a shelf life of a week or two under the best conditions.
With foods that have a longer shelf life, such as processed foods and things like chips and crackers, other methods can be used. One of the most popular and effective forms of packaging is shrink sleeves. Printed shrink sleeves allow branding, required nutritional information and other important information to be printed all over the packaging. Shrink sleeves are popular on drinks, candy and many other types of food. With studies showing that more than half of people around the world make purchasing decisions at least partially based on how packaging looks, this method of packaging can be very important.
Food sealing machines, whether they are for vacuum sealing, shrink sleeving or another form of packaging, are important. Whatever food packaging containers are used, they must keep the food safe from contaminants and keep it from spoiling. Food-borne illnesses are a huge problem, with about one out of every six people falling ill from food each year and about 3,000 people dying from food-borne illnesses. That’s a huge potential risk for food companies.
Whatever method of packaging you use for your food products, safety is the main issue. A food product that looks good on the outside does you no good if the product on the inside is defective or, even worse, dangerous.