PACKAGING OF READY-TO-EAT/READY-TOCOOK FOOD
onvenience food is a concept that is prevalent in the developed world since long, while its
inception into the Indian market has been recent. With the changing socio-economic pattern of life and the increasing number of working couples, the concept is fast becoming popular in Indian market. This type of food is becoming popular because it saves time and labour. This food has extended shelf-life and is available off the market shelves. Packaged/convenience food products sector has been slow in penetrating the large potential presented by Indian 250 million strong middle class. But due to growing urbanisation and changing food habits, the demand has been rising at a good pace and there is enough latent market potential waiting to be exploited through developmental efforts. The convenience food could be basically classified into two categories: Shelf stable convenience food Frozen convenience food Shelf-stable convenience food are further classified as: Ready-to-Eat (RTE) and Ready-To-Serve (RTS) food - e.g. Idlis, dosas, pav bhaji, meat products like pre-cooked sausages, ham, chicken products, curries, chapattis, rice, vegetables like aloo chole, navratan kurma, channa masala etc. Ready-to-Cook food e.g. instant mixes like cake mixes, gulab-jamun mix, falooda mix, icecream mix, jelly mix, pudding mix etc., pasta products like noodles, macaroni, vermicelli etc.
Packaging Requirements of Ready-to-Eat (RTE) and Ready-to-Serve (RTS) Food
A ready-to-eat food product may be defined as any food product which does not require any elaborate processing procedures on the part of consumer before it is good enough for
Extruded Ready-to-Cook Products Packed in Plastic Pouches Ready-to-Cook/Ready-to-Eat Food in Plastic Pouches
152 consumption. It is ready-to-eat as soon as the pack is opened in a form, which is tasty and appetizing. The advancements in food technology and packaging technology have made it possible to extend the shelf-life of these products. Before deciding which packaging material is to be used, it is necessary to know the packaging requirements of the product i.e. what hazards will cause product deterioration and the conditions to which the packaged product will be subjected throughout its shelf-life. Some important packaging considerations, which influence the selection criteria for choosing packaging materials, are highlighted. Product Characteristics The type of food and its composition, moisture, fat, protein, flavour etc. Form and shape of the product smooth, regular, irregular, with sharp edges etc. Nature of the product crisp, brittle, sticky etc. Factors Affecting Packaging Factors responsible for the spoilage of the food products: Biological spoilage due to micro-organisms Abiotic spoilage due to chemical reactions like oxidation, hydrolysis and enzymatic reactions. The environmental factors like light, humidity and temperature. The food processing parameters eg. processing temperature and duration.
The shelf-life desired for a given ready-to-eat food, influences the type of packaging and
processing parameters to be used. Ready-to-eat snacks like idlis, dosas, pav bhaji etc. are sold across the counter and have a very short shelf-life, hence the packaging requirements of these products are different from those of ready to eat products like curry rice, upma, vegetable biryani etc., which are retort processed for longer shelf-life.
Oxygen /Air Permeability
RTC food normally contain fat as well as other ingredients that can be oxidised. If oxygen/ air is allowed to come in contact with the packaged food, oxidative degradation of fat occurs, and many other oxidative changes take place, which cause rancidity, off flavour and discolouration in the food. Hence, packaging material for high fat should have low oxygen permeability.
Nitrogen Permeability
To protect the food from oxygen/moisture, the food is usually packed in an inert atmosphere of Nitrogen ( N2 ). The N2 permeability of the package should be low to prevent its escape into the atmosphere.
Grease Resistance Properties
A variety of RTC food have edible oil and fat as their ingredients. Fat/oil during storage should not adversely affect the packaging material used for these products, as fat may ooze out. HDPE and LDPE are affected by fat and are not suitable for packing fatty products. Polyester films, cellophane, polypropylene, inomer films etc. are suitable for such applications. If made in laminates, then the film offering excellent grease resistance is used as the innermost liner of the laminate. Flavour and essential oils contribute to the organoleptic qualities of many RTC food. They are volatile substances and hence gas permeability of the packaging material should be very low to prevent flavour loss. This is also necessary to block the entry of the outside oxygen and air, which could bring out the oxidative changes in flavour.
