Food Packaging Equipment

Food Packaging Equipment

Because of the central role that food plays in people's lives, and because of the standards to which packaged food products must adhere in modern, developed economies, the food packaging and equipment market is large and varied. Packaging equipment manufacturers and suppliers provide the packaged food and beverage industry with the tools they need to safely and effectively transport their products to customers. Just of few of these tools include heat sealers, vacuum packaging machines, filling machines in the case of bulk product packaging, bagging machines and an extensive variety of other packaging machinery. No one packaging machine is equipped to provide for the quite varied needs of the packaged food and beverage industry. Foods are so varied in terms of texture, moisture content, size, storage temperature needs and other physical characteristics that entire engineering efforts are dedicated to the development of food packaging products for use in single, discreet corners of the packaged food market.

When manufacturing packaging for food products, the materials used generally need to have been approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a sanitary-grade material. Some FDA approved materials for food packaging include plastic materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) and Bisphenol A (BPA). Two of the more common types of food packaging equipment are vacuum packing machines and shrink wrapping machines. Vacuum packing machines include equipment such as thermoformers, tray sealers and vacuum chambers. Thermoformers manufacture the packaging, they but can also be used for filling and sealing. Tray sealers are used in the sealing of two sides of a tray together in order to create a single, joined piece of vacuum packaging. Lastly, vacuum chamber machines require the whole product to be placed in the machine. Once in the machine, the lid is then sealed shut and all the atmospheric oxygen is removed, packaging and sealing the product in the chamber before unsealing the lid. Another form of vacuum packaging, shrink wrapping machines can apply either shrink wrap or stretch films around a product. When heated, shrink wrap contracts to fit tightly around the contours of a product, and because it has excellent elastic memory, the wrap returns to its original shape after being stretched.