WO2000071421A1 - Packaging method and package for preserving and/or cooking or heating food products - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention concerns packaging for preserving and/or cooking or heating fresh food products, such as, for example, uncooked or pre-cooked vegetables or ready-cooked dishes, comprising a hermetically sealed packaging wherein said food products (8) are set, said packaging including a container or tray (1) comprising a base (2) and a false base (3) provided with perforations (4) arranged above and spaced away from said base (2) and a plastic film (9) covering the container and sealed on said container. The invention is characterised in that it further comprises a moistened saturating or humidifying pad (7), placed in the space (E) provided between the base (2) and the false base (3) of said container (1).

Description

 Packaging method and packaging for the preservation and / or cooking or reheating of food products.

The present invention relates to a packaging method and a packaging for the preservation and / or cooking or reheating of food products. According to a more particularly advantageous application, although in no way limiting, the method and the packaging according to the invention are intended to allow the preservation and cooking or reheating, by saturated steam using a microwave, of all products fresh food, such as raw or pre-cooked vegetables or fruit or miscellaneous cooked food products.

Many food products such as certain fresh or precooked vegetables or fruits, or certain cooked dishes, are sold in plastic trays covered with a shrink film, for example made of polyethylene or the like, with instructions recommending, where appropriate, how to cook or reheat them in a microwave. This packaging method has at least two drawbacks, namely: - a risk of accelerated dehydration of food products if the trays of these products are not stored under the most favorable conditions of temperature and hygrometry; - a risk of advanced desiccation during their passage in the microwave altering the consistency, the organoleptic qualities and the vitamins of the products.

There is known (EP-701995A, EP-732275A) a device for packaging and preserving fresh food products such as meats, fish or the like, tending to exude liquids promoting the proliferation of bacterial flora which thus limit the duration of consumption. authorized, this device being constituted by a plastic tray comprising an impermeable bottom and a false bottom having perforations, disposed above and at a distance from the bottom, an absorbent pad being arranged between said bottom and said false bottom, this absorbent pad containing a chemical inhibitor for neutralizing product fumes, and possibly other agents such as a regeneration reagent capable of modifying the confinement atmosphere of said products, depending on their fumes.

If such a device can solve the problem of the treatment of exudates released by food products of animal origin such as tripe, pieces of meats, fish, etc., it does not solve the previously exposed problem of preservation and / or cooking or reheating, by saturated steam, of products such as fresh vegetables, cooked preparations or the like, by passing through the microwave, linked the phenomenon of dehydration of these products. The invention therefore proposes to solve this specific problem.

According to the invention, this object is achieved thanks to a packaging process and to a packaging according to which the food products are housed in a hermetically sealed package comprising a container or tray having an impermeable bottom and a false bottom provided with perforations, arranged at the above and at a distance from the bottom, a saturator or humidifier pad soaked in water, with or without the addition of a treatment agent, being placed between said bottom and said false bottom, the container or tray being closed by a plastic film welded onto the periphery of said container.

According to another characteristic arrangement of the invention, the packaging, that is to say the tray and the closure film, are made of materials transparent to microwaves and resistant to the heat given off by microwave ovens. , when in use.

The method and packaging according to the invention provide several advantages: - they prevent accelerated drying of fresh food products during the period between their packaging and their consumption;

- they bring a significant improvement in the life of the packaged products, thanks to the regulation which takes place naturally inside the container according to a photosynthesis principle (oxygen + water + light);

- they allow rapid cooking or reheating, without dehydrating fresh, raw, precooked or cooked products, for example packaged in portions of 50 g to 1 kg;

- they allow better preservation of the organoleptic qualities, vitamins and flavors contained in the products. The aims, characteristics and advantages above, and others still, will emerge more clearly from the description which follows and from the appended drawing, in which:

- Figure 1 is a half view in longitudinal section and on an enlarged scale, of a packaging executed according to the invention;

- Figure 2 is a view with partial cutaway, in plan and in section along line 2-2 of Figure 1. Reference is made to said drawing to describe an interesting example, although in no way limitative, of implementation of the packaging process and production of packaging according to the invention.

In the description which follows, it is specified that the word "packaging" when it is not used as an additional name in the expression "process of conditioning", designates an article consisting of a packaging and the food product contained in this one.

This packaging includes a container or tray 1 provided with a double bottom consisting of a bottom 2, preferably waterproof, and a false bottom 3 disposed above and at a distance from this bottom. The false bottom 3 is provided with a plurality of perforations 4, for example of circular shape, and, preferably, regularly spaced and distributed over the entire surface of said false bottom.

The container 1 is, for example constituted by a double shell comprising an outer shell 5 comprising the bottom 2 and an inner shell 6 of smaller dimensions comprising the false perforated bottom 3 and fitted into said outer shell 5.

Given the advantageous application of the method and the packaging of the invention to the marketing of products intended to be cooked or reheated using a microwave, the tray 1 and, consequently, according to the example illustrated, the outer 5 and inner 6 shells can be made of any material that is transparent to microwaves, waterproof and capable of withstanding the heat given off by microwave ovens designed for cooking, when use of these ovens, that is to say, practically, at a heat at least equal to 100 ° C., causing no deformation or migration of their components towards the food or the water contained in the packaging. The shells are, for example, thermoformed from any semi-rigid food plastic material fulfilling the above-mentioned requirements, such as, for example, polypropylene (PP). The outer 5 and inner 6 shells can be made integral with one another, by any suitable method, for example by means of a heat-welding operation, at the upper edge of the peripheral walls of said shells or by the 'intermediate of their bottoms, one of which in this case includes ribs allowing this welding and the maintenance of a space between said bottoms 2 and 3.

In a manner known per se, the shells 5 and 6 constituting the rigid container or tray 1 may include ribs ensuring their rigidity. In the space E formed between the bottom 2 and the false bottom 3, is arranged a saturator or humidifier pad 7 occupying, preferably, all or almost all of said space.

This humidifier pad 7 consists of a plate of spongy material, for example of the food blotter type, soaked in water. This spongy plate can be constituted by a nonwoven of fibers of vegetable, animal or synthetic origin. Advantageously, the weight of the volume of water retained in the humidifying pad is 40 to 60 times greater than the weight of said pad in the non-impregnated state. The water impregnating the plate of spongy material may be added with at least one food processing agent 8 housed in the packaging 1-9, such as, for example, a preservative, a chemical or natural agent d flavoring, etc.

The fresh food products 8 such as raw or precooked vegetables or fruits, cooked preparations or the like, are housed in the container or tray 1 and kept therein by means of a transparent film or film 9 fixed by thermal welding, for example on the periphery of the upper edge of said tray. This transparent film can be made of any plastic material having the qualities required for carrying out the packaging and for cooking or reheating foodstuffs, such as transparency to light and to microwaves, flexibility, extensibility, retractability. compliance with food regulations, resistance to heat released by microwaves, resistance to pressure generated by the steam located in the enclosure of the container during cooking, air permeability (allowing fresh products to breathe without direct contact with ambient air thus preventing them from suffocation and premature deterioration).

The transparent film 9 can, for example, be made of polyethylene or polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and, more precisely and preferably, in retractable anti-fog polyolefin, with a coextruded multilayer structure. The packaging produced according to the invention is prepared by shippers of raw or precooked vegetables or fruits or by manufacturers who prepare ready meals, upstream of the sales channels to consumers, so that the products thus conditioned are kept until their consumption, in a specific environment with a humidity which delays the drying process of said products.

On the other hand, when the packaging is placed in a microwave oven, for the purpose of cooking or reheating the food product which it contains, the water contained in the saturator or humidifier pad 7 is rapidly transformed into vapor. This vapor escapes through the holes 4 formed in the false bottom 3 of the container 1 and occupies the entire volume delimited by said container and the closure film 9.

The principle of microwave cooking thus acts simultaneously on the solid products and the water contained in the packaging, creating the ideal conditions for cooking or reheating with saturated steam, thus avoiding any dehydration of said products.

In order to avoid any excess pressure leading to an undesirable deformation of the container, during cooking, a perforation 10 is provided in the closure film 9. This perforation is carried out during the production of the packaging. To prevent any contact of the products with the ambient air, a detachable opercular pastille or food label 11 is stuck on the perforation after completion of the packaging, in order to close said perforation.

This detachable seal is removed by the consumer before placing the packaging in the microwave.

Claims

1. Packaging method for preserving and / or cooking or reheating fresh food products, such as, for example, raw or precooked vegetables or fruit or cooked dishes, according to which said food products (8) are housed in a package hermetically sealed consisting, on the one hand, of a container or tray (1) comprising a bottom (2) and a false bottom (3) provided with perforations (4), disposed above and at a distance from said bottom, and, on the other hand, a plastic film (9) covering, welded to said container (1), characterized in that one places, in the lower part of the container (1), in the space ( E) formed between the bottom (2) and the false bottom (3) of the latter, a saturator or humidifier pad (7) soaked in water. 2. Packaging for preserving and / or cooking or reheating fresh food products, such as, for example, raw or precooked vegetables or fruit or cooked dishes, comprising a hermetically sealed package in which said food products are placed (8) , this packaging comprising, on the one hand, a container or tray (1) comprising a bottom (2) and a false bottom (3) provided with perforations (4), disposed above and at a distance from said bottom (2) and , on the other hand, a plastic film (9) covering the container and its contents and welded to said container, characterized in that it also comprises a saturator or humidifier pad (7) soaked in water, placed in the space (E) formed between the bottom (2) and the false bottom (3) of said container (1). 3. A packaging method according to claim 1, characterized in that a perforation (10) is formed in the closure film (9), and in that this perforation is closed by means of an opercular disc or label detachable (11) which can be removed before passing the packaging to the microwave. 4. Packaging according to claim 2, characterized in that the components (1, 9) of the packaging are made of materials transparent to microwaves and resistant to the heat given off by microwave ovens. 5. Packaging according to claim 2, characterized in that the closure film (9) is provided with a perforation (10) closed by means of a detachable seal or label (11) which can be removed before passage of said packaging in the microwave. 6. Packaging according to one of claims 2 or 4, characterized in that its container (1) is made of plastic and, for example, polypropylene (PP). 7. Packaging according to any one of claims 2, 4 or 6, characterized in that the closure film (9) is made of polyethylene or polyethylene terephthalate (PET). 8. Packaging according to any one of claims 2, 4 or 6, characterized in that the closure film (9) is made of retractable anti-fog polyolefin, with coextruded multilayer structure. 9. Packaging according to claim 2, characterized in that the saturator or humidifier pad (7) consists of a plate of spongy material. 10. Packaging according to one of claims 2 or 9, characterized in that the water impregnating the saturator or humidifier pad (7) contains at least one agent for treating food products (8) housed in the packaging (1- 9), such as, for example, a chemical or natural flavoring agent.