Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
CA 02592678 2007-06-29
Method For Packaging And Aging Meat Products
Description
The invention relates to a method for packaging meat products,
in particular sausage products, by feeding a flat plastic foil
to a filling tube and thereby shaping it into a cylindrical form
that surrounds the filling tube and is heat-sealed at the
overlapping edges, whereby the meat product is filled into the
flexible foil tube thus formed via the filling tube and the
flexible tube is then sealed at the ends and detached.
The said method is extensively used for sausage packaging, but
also for packaging cheese, herb butter and the like. An
essential advantage is that the flat foil, which can be pulled
off from rolls, is shaped into calibers of different sizes and
automatically heat-sealed at the overlapping edges and
simultaneously filled with the product. After the desired amount
of product has been filled in, the flexible tube is sealed by two
closely successive clips or the like and separated between the
clips, so that the sausages are already dispensed from the
packaging and filling machine in a separated form.
in this case, mono or composite foils are used which are
impermeable to steam and oxygen, whereby it is important that the
foil is easily heat-sealable, so that the overlapping edges can
be quickly and reliably joined by the addition of heat.
However, the described method is to date only used for aged meat
products such as boiling sausage, cooking sausage and other foods
such as herb butter, soft cheese, etc., i.e. for those food
products that do not require any aging after packaging, but
should be tightly sealed vis-à-vis the surroundings and, if
necessary, also boiled.
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On the other hand, in all other meat products which are to be
aged or preserved by drying, i.e. e.g. raw sausages,
semipreserved products and the like - salami sausages are best
known - it is necessary to make the casings either from natural
skins or non-edible cellulose fibre skins and collagen skins,
optionally reinforced with cellulose, because only casings of
this type which are permeable to steam enable the drying of the
packaged product. However, casings of this type are considerably
more awkward in handling. Thus, with natural skins, there is the
problem that they cannot be produced and processed cost-
effectively and, moreover, are only available in specific
calibers. If casings of collagens and optionally cellulose are
used instead, then a pretreatment with acids, lyes and water is
required for the coagulation, neutralization and washing out.
The manufacturing of said casings represents a further expensive
process: The casings must be gathered after they have been
produced, i.e. mechanically pushed together to form a
caterpillar, so that they can be transported in a space-saving
manner to the filling machine. This requires that the casings
be moistened prior to the gathering, so that they become soft and
flexible and are not damaged by the gathering wheels of the
gathering machine during the mechanical load.
After the
gathering process, the gathered, moist casings must again be
dried to the desired residual moisture to prevent the formation
of mold.
The processor or filler must then again moisten these
caterpillars by soaking in water before the filling process, so
that the casings can be fed to the filling machine. This soaking
also conceals a high hygienic risk.
However, if the gathered casing is delivered to the filling
machine in a moistened state, i.e. ready to be filled, then a
chemical must be added to the water which is required for the
moistening to prevent the formation of mold. Moreover, the damp
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caterpillar must be transported to the filling machine in a
container which is impermeable to steam to prevent drying.
Based on this, the object of the present invention is to
improve the known packaging method for meat products in
such a way that raw meat products, which must still undergo
a drying and aging process after packaging, can be packed
while avoiding the aforementioned problems.
According to the invention, this object is solved in that
the flat foil for use with raw meat products, in particular
for raw sausage and semipreserved products, consists of a
fleece which is made with a component of at least 80% long¨
fibered synthetic fibers and has a water and/or steam
permeability of at least 40 g/m2d and that the packed raw
meat products are subsequently preserved by the removal of
moisture and/or by smoking.
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided
a method for packaging a raw or semi-preserved food
product, the method comprising the steps of:
feeding a flat plastic foil to a filling tube;
shaping the plastic foil into a cylindrical foil tube
that surrounds the filling tube;
sealing the foil tube at overlapping edges of the
plastic foil;
filling the raw or semi-preserved food product from
the filling tube into the foil tube;
sealing the foil tube at its ends;
detaching the filled and sealed foil tube from
adjacent foil tubing; and
preserving the sealed foil tube filled with raw or
semi-preserved food product by removal of moisture and/or
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by smoking;
wherein (i) the plastic foil comprises a fleece made
with a proportion of at least 80% long-fibered plastic
fibers placed crisscross adjacent and on top of one another
and the fleece having a water and/or steam permeability of
at least 40 g/m2d, (ii) the plastic fibers comprise a co-
extruded core material and sheath of heat or high-frequency
sealable material, and (iii) the sheath material has a
lower melting point than the core material, such that the
plastic fibers are heat- or high frequency-sealed together
with the lower melting point sheath material at points of
contact or intersection of the plastic fibers in the
fleece; and
wherein the flat plastic foil is fed to the filling
tube without moistening.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is
provided an automatic method for packaging a raw or semi-
preserved food product, the method comprising the steps of:
providing a prefabricated tube of plastic foil to a
filling tube, wherein the foil tube is heat-sealed at
overlapping edges of the plastic foil;
filling the raw or semi-preserved food product from
the filling tube into the foil tube;
sealing the foil tube at its ends;
detaching the filled and sealed foil tube from
adjacent foil tubing; and
preserving the sealed foil tube filled with raw or
semi-preserved food product by removal of moisture and/or
by smoking;
wherein (i) the plastic foil comprises a fleece made
with a proportion of at least 80% long-fibered plastic
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fibers placed crisscross adjacent and on top of one another
and the fleece having a water and/or steam permeability of
at least 40 g/m2d, (ii) the plastic fibers comprise a co-
extruded core material and sheath of heat or high-frequency
sealable material, (iii) the sheath material has a lower
melting point than the core material, such that the plastic
fibers are heat- or high frequency-sealed together with the
lower melting point sheath material at points of contact or
intersection of the plastic fibers in the fleece, and (iv)
the core comprises polyethylene terephthalate and the
sheath comprises polyethylene; and
wherein the flat plastic foil is fed to the 'filling
tube without moistening.
The natural skins and collagen and fiber casings thusfar
required for raw sausage products can be replaced by a
fleece foil of this type. The manufacture and production of
the casings is thereby considerably simplified. In
particular, the moistening which is no longer required
prior to the gathering of the casings and also prior to
filling is omitted. Moreover, the hygienic conditions when
using the foil according to the invention are significantly
more advantageous.
To obtain the desired drying and aging in the shortest time
possible, it is recommended that the foil have a water and
steam permeability of more than 100 g/m2d, preferably more
than 150 g/m2d.
In addition, the foil should also be permeable to gas, so
that gases that occur during the aging process can escape.
In order that these properties can be optimally realized, it is
recommended that the synthetic fibers be extruded with a fiber
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1 ength of at least 5 mm, preferably at least 50 mm. It is most
advantageous to work with an endless fiber. The fiber(s) is/are
placed crisscross adjacent to and on top of one another and then
heat-sealed together at the points of contact or intersection.
As a result, the desired permeability and the required stability
can be guaranteed.
The thickness of the foils is selected in such a way that a foil
weight of at least 30 g/m2, at the most 300 g/m2, sets in. The
preferred range is between 40 g/m2 and 200 g/m2.
Especially suitable as material for the fibers are polyvinylidene
chloride, polyamide, polypropylene, polyester and/or polyethylene
from which a heat-sealable fleece foil is produced in the
spun/bond method. It is also within the scope of the invention
to work with fibers made of other materials, as long as the
fibers have a casing of a heat-sealable or sealable plastic, in
particular, therefore, of a thermoplastic material.
In addition, it is essential and unusual for packaging raw meat
products that the fleece foil be supplied to the filling tube
without prior moistening.
This also applies when they are
brought onto the filling tube in a gathered form prior to folding
over.
Generally, the filled raw meat products must still then age for
a long time.
Therefore, in a further development of the
invention, it is recommended that the flat foil be treated with
preservatives, in particular potassium sorbate, prior to the
filling process. As a result, the danger of mold formation,
which is considerably higher in raw meat products than in
conventionally filled products, is clearly reduced.
Moreover, it can be advantageous to treat the flat foil with
propylene glycol and/or glycerine, so that it becomes softer and
more easily peelable.
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The aforementioned treatments can advantageously be carried out
in such a manner that potassium sorbate and/or propylene glycol
and/or glycerine is dissolved in water and the foil passed
through an immersion bath formed therewith. Any residues of the
solution still adhering to the surface are then removed by
rolling, stripping or the like.
Advantageously, the
aforementioned immersion bath contains about 10 to 30% propylene
glycol, about 5 to 20% glycerine and about 1 to 10% potassium
sorbate.
To facilitate removal of the foil from the product, it can be
recommended, depending on the type of product, that the foil have
an anti-adhesive coating on the side facing the product. The
thickness of this anti-adhesive coating is in the -range.
Preferably, it consists of cellulose, acrylate and other
substances known to a person skilled in the art, whereby liquid
smoke or other flavouring substances are also suitable, if one
wishes to simultaneously influence the taste of the product.
Other coatings for the foil are also possible, perhaps to control
its permeability.
The flat foil is advantageously made completely of long-fibered
synthetic fibers; however, it is also within the scope of the
invention to add about 15% to about 20% foreign fibers, in
particular cellulose fibers or derivatives thereof.
It is decisive for the use according to the invention of the
known packaging method for raw meat products that the products
can be preserved after packaging by removal of moisture and/or
smoking, i.e. that the foil has adequate water and/or steam
permeability. This permeability is reduced in the overlapping
area of the foil edges, that is there where the edges are heat-
sealed together to form a flexible tube. It
is therefore
recommended that this area be stippled after the bonding or heat-
sealing, i.e. to make numerous microholes, so that the gas and
moisture permeability is just as good as in the non-heat-sealed
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foil area.
Further particulars of the invention can be found in the
following description of an embodiment and the drawings, showing
Fig. 1 a schematic illustration of the filling system;
Fig. 2 the individual procedural steps.
First, a roll with the flat foil 1 according to the invention can
be seen in Fig. 1. This is a fiber fleece which is made from an
endless fiber. The fiber is coextruded from a PET (polyethylene
terephthalate) core and a PE (polyethylene) casing and has a
diameter of 5 to about 100 , preferably about 10 to about 50
p. It is laid out on an underpad in an orderly or disorderly
fashion in strands which are adjacent to and above one another,
so that an area weight of about 20 g/m2 to about 200 g/m2
results. This fleece is then heat-sealed at certain points, so
that a so-called spun/bond material is produced. It is cut into
the desired width (about 3 m) and length (about 2000 m) and wound
on supply rolls. From there, the foil is separated in such a
width that it results in the desired caliber of the sausage with
a peripheral overlapping of a few millimeters when being shaped
into the form of a flexible tube, so that the overlapping width
for the joining of the two foil edges in a heat-sealing station
is sufficient.
After the flat foil has been produced, it is also advantageously
treated by preservatives, so that it is better suitable for the
later use with for raw meat products.
This treatment is
advantageously carried out with a solution of bactericidal and/or
fungicidal preservatives. These substances are applied to the
foil by spraying or an immersion bath. Subsequently, they are
optionally scraped off the surface of the foil, however, they
remain inside the foil and consequently have a longer lasting
effect than with preserving by heat or drying.
Suitable
preservatives are sorbates, benzoates, sulfites, nitrides,
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acet at e s , propionates and other legally certified substances for
food. An
aqueous solution with sorbic acid or sorbates,
optionally with additional substances, is especially suitable for
the present application.
The foil I treated in this way is pulled off a supply roll via
a vertically freely movable dancer roll 2 and conveyed to a
shaping shoulder 3. By means of this shaping shoulder, the foil
is shaped cylindrically in a known manner, whereby it is placed
about a filling tube 7. The foil I thus made into a flexible
tube la is then run along a heat-sealing beam 4 which heats the
overlapping foil edges and seals them. The sealing surface can
be perforated with microholes to improve its permeability. The
tubular sealed casing is conveyed by conveyor belts 5 into a
gathering area 8 which is in the vicinity of the outlet end of
the filling tube 7. A clipping machine 6, where the foil tube
is clipped off and detached, adjoins it.
Figure 2 illustrates the procedural steps in detail:
The tube end sealed by a clip lb and the gathering area 8 found
on the filling tube 7 can be seen in Fig. a. After the tube end
has been clipped, the filling process starts, as a result of
which the sealed tube end is pressed forward into the position
shown in Fig. b. After the preset portion has been dispensed,
the dosing feeder actuates the binding process. For
this
purpose, according to Fig. c, the tube is tied off with fingers
lc in a known manner and, according to Fig. d, a braid id is
pulled. Two clips are placed on the pulled braid at a distance
from the clipping machine 6. A blade 9 between the clips then
separates the filled sausage. It
is transported away by a
conveyor belt or via a discharge tray. The process is repeated
at the sealed tube end on the right side.
Of course, it is also within the scope of the invention to
provide the fleece foil according to the invention as a
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prefabricated tube which is heat-sealed on the overlapping
longitudinal edges and to then convey this tube to the filling
tube 7.
In summary, the invention offers the advantage that raw meat
products, in particular raw sausage and semipreserved products
such as salami, can now be quickly and hygienically packaged with
any caliber desired and can age in the packaging. Moreover, the
fleece foil according to the invention can be processed by rolls
of up to 2000 m length, whereas the previous skins were limited
to 60 - 80 m length.
