Abstract:
Food packaging processes can significantly contribute to reduce the waste of food and packaging materials by means of a careful choice of the sealant material that results in increased tightness and lower leak rates. In this work we prove that for a successful choice of a sealant it is not enough to consider the heat seal and hot tack strength curves. Other parameters like melting and flow behavior are critical. A sharp and low melting point and high flow at the temperature of seal (caulkability) contribute to improve the hermeticity of the seal and therefore quality of the package.