Trends in processing and packaging technology at Anuga FoodTec

Today, the majority of consumers are already in favour of fast and easy consumption. At the same time, fewer and fewer German people are prepared to spend time in the kitchen making elaborate meals, not least because the number of single households continues to rise. Instead, they want delicious products that are fast and easy to prepare. The industry's answer to this trend is convenience food. The technology and equipment to produce such ready-meals will be on show at Anuga FoodTec 2006 in Cologne.

Frozen pizzas, pre-packed trays of freshly sliced fruit, readymade sughi from a jar and even the classic can of goulash - with the range of convenience products on offer today, it's never been easier to put together a quick meal. Yet precisely because people have come to expect quick and easy preparation as a matter of course, today's consumers are looking for foods that offer more than just convenience. In turn, the industry is now responding with innovative recipes and new manufacturing processes.

Multifunctional and efficient facilities
When producing quality ready-meals, soups and sauces, precise process control is crucial. For example, the ingredients must be mixed and heated efficiently and in such a way that they lose none of their quality. Vacuum mixing, for instance, is one way of ensuring an especially homogeneous blend without any lumps, froth or air in the mixture. Modern processing systems for batch production, such as the Tetra Albatch from Tetra Pak Processing, are able to handle every step in the process chain, from mixing and heating to cooling, condensing and de-aerating. Likewise, the Vacutherm system from Stephan Machinery, which was developed primarily for producing delicatessen products, can take on a number steps in one operation and will process liquids and powders as well as mix in chunky materials.

Shaken, not stirred
In the canned food industry, the use of an autoclave is a proven method of preserving foods. The "Shaka", a new autoclave system from UK company Zinetec, is unlike conventional steam-injection, shower and full-water autoclaves in two critical ways: the intensity of product agitation and speed of heat transfer. The principle is as follows: When a container in an autoclave is shaken along its longitudinal axis, this mixes up the contents and brings them into contact with the inner wall of the container in rapid succession. This intense agitation accelerates heat transfer during both heating and cooling as well as preventing the contents from scorching on the inside of the container. As a result, higher temperatures can be used, thus reducing processing times. Satori Stocktec, the German manufacturer of batch autoclaves, and French producer Steriflow will be exhibiting pilot-scale systems produced under license according to the Shaka principle. Should the process fulfil manufacturers' expectations, the first industrial-scale systems will soon enable a whole new segment of shelf-stable foods that do not require cooling.

Loose frozen fruit and vegetables
Over the past three decades, the per capita consumption of frozen foods in Germany has risen by 24.8 kilograms to 36.6 kilograms a year. New convenience foods benefit from advances in cooling and refrigeration technology. Take pasta, for example, which now comes in frozen packs of pre-cooked, pre-salted and pre-portioned noodles in a wide variety of shapes. There are basically two methods used in the production of frozen food: IQF (Individual Quick Frozen) and BF (Block Frozen). Whereas products frozen using the BF method have a longer shelf-life than IQF foods, the IQF method provides a more convenient product, since consumers need only remove as many items from a pack as they actually require for one particular meal. Products frozen with this method include loose fruit and vegetables, potato products, seafood and pasta. Using conveyor frosters - like those on display in Cologne from Heinen Freezing and the Swedish refrigeration specialist IQF Frost AB - any loose product can be frozen or refrigerated. This process also creates new possibilities for the development of coated ingredients for use in ready-meals. For example, individual chunks of a particular foodstuff can be homogeneously coated with a sauce, a marinade or chocolate when the coating is applied together with a spray of liquid nitrogen cooled to a temperature of -196 °C. The liquid nitrogen spontaneously evaporates as soon at it touches the product. With this process, 20 to 30 times as much heat is removed from the product as with conventional freezing methods. As nitrogen is inert, it has no effect on either the taste or the look of the product. Arguments in favour of such coated product include ease of portioning, rapid preparation and freshness.

Haute cuisine from the carton
The convenience philosophy has also had significant impact on packaging technology. This can be seen in, for example, the increasing availability of snack portions and assorted packs of existing products. Today, manufacturers are eager to exploit convenience packaging in order to set themselves apart from the competition and provide products with unique features. A new trend in this respect is the use of cartons to package products that previously were only available in cans or jars. Whereas traditional cartons are unable to withstand the heat of boiling water, "Tetra Recart" is a new carton material developed by Tetra Pak that is resistant to moisture and heat. Using this material, chunky foods with high moisture content can now be packed in cartons and then autoclaved. Likewise "combisafe" from SIG Combibloc is on show for the first time at this year's Anuga FoodTec. This heat-resistant carton series is volume-flexible and can be used to package almost any chunky food product for subsequent sterilisation in the autoclave. The "combisafe" series is suitable for vegetables and fruit as well as ready-meals.
It was back in 1997 that Tetra Pak launched "Tetra Wedge Aseptic", the first carton for aseptically packaged foods, in which the contents can be heated, with the packaging, in the microwave. This type of packaging is ideal for readymade sauces - both sweet and savoury - as well as broths, which merely need to be heated before being eaten. Incorporated in the packaging material is an oxygen and light barrier made of polyethylene terephtalate (PET) and silicon oxide, which ensures that the product can be stored in a non-refrigerated environment for up to six months without any loss in quality. At this year's Anuga FoodTec, Tetra Pak is exhibiting the new "Tetra Wedge Aseptic Clear", the world's first transparent aseptic carton.

Fast-moving trends mean a challenging market for manufacturers of packaging machinery, since today's food producers often don't know what they will be producing and packaging tomorrow. This is why food producers demand flexible, modular packaging machines that can be upgraded, if necessary, with new functions at a later date.

Quelle: Anuga FoodTec