China's dairy packaging calls for new materials

Eating dairy products that have deteriorated and tasted have not only seriously damaged the interests of consumers, but also seriously threatened the health of consumers.

There are many reasons for the deterioration and odor of dairy products. One of the most important reasons for the analysis from the packaging is the plastic composite film and bag used for dairy packaging, and its oxygen barrier performance is far from satisfactory. For many years, there has been no uniform standard for the oxygen barrier properties of plastic composite films and bags used in dairy packaging in China. The implementation is extremely confusing and the problems are naturally numerous. In order to reduce packaging costs and pursue profits, many small enterprises use ordinary composite membranes with extremely poor oxygen barrier properties for dairy products that require aseptic processing and require a long shelf life. As a result, there will naturally be a quality accident in which the dairy product deteriorates and tastes.

In order to meet the market access of dairy products, beverages and other commodities, to ensure the safety and health of consumers; to provide scientific and reliable technical basis to relevant enterprises, inspection, supervision and certification departments; to manufacturers in the packaging of dairy products and beverages have chapters In order to promote the continuous development of China's national economy, the national standard for "plastic composite film and bag for liquid food packaging" issued by the state is officially implemented on December 1, 2005.

The standard specifies the plastic composite film for liquid food, the oxygen permeability index and the health index of the bag, and is listed as a mandatory standard. At present, the consumption of liquid milk in China is very large, and the output of sterilized milk accounts for more than half of the consumption of liquid milk. From the market survey, the main forms of domestic dairy packaging are: Tetra Pak (paper-plastic aluminum composite structure), Baili packaging (multi-layer co-extruded film structure). Tetra Pak can meet new standards due to the use of aluminum foil as a barrier layer. However, the cost is very expensive, and the extensive use of aluminum foil as a barrier material to protect the environment is also a great challenge.

Baili Packaging Milk was introduced from Europe in the late 1990s. With the expansion of the liquid milk market, the consumption of this type of packaging has grown rapidly. At the beginning of the development of Baili packaging milk, because there is no domestic production of Baili packaging film, the packaging film is imported from abroad, using five layers of co-extruded film, with EVOH as the barrier layer, with high barrier properties, can meet the new standard. Requirements. With the expansion of the market for Baili packaging liquid milk, domestic manufacturers gradually began to produce Baili packaging film. Due to cost reasons and restrictions on production equipment, the domestically produced Baili packaging film is quite a three-layer co-extruded film. The film has no barrier material as a barrier layer, so the three-layer co-extruded film does not have barrier properties, and the oxygen permeability is about 1700 cc, which cannot guarantee the safety of the packaged product, and therefore cannot meet the barrier performance requirements in the new standard. . Obviously, the coextruded film of this structure will be eliminated.

With the continuous expansion of liquid milk consumption, the use of Baili packaging film is getting larger and larger. At the same time, due to the frequent occurrence of milk corruption, many domestic dairy companies have begun to use five layers of EVOH co-extruded film to package milk in special seasons. Although some domestic manufacturers have also developed five-layer EVOH co-extruded film for packaging, due to the price, dairy manufacturers are difficult to bear the increase in cost. It is worth mentioning that most of the EVHO raw materials used in China still need to be imported, which is expensive. This is also a great pressure on the cost of using the Baili packaging film that meets the national oxygen permeability standard for dairy companies. However, in today's increasingly fierce competition in the dairy industry, many companies are still using plastic composite membranes and bags that do not meet the national oxygen barrier rate in order to pursue profits. How to improve the barrier properties of dairy packaging in China and reduce packaging costs has become an important factor affecting the development of dairy products in China.

China's dairy companies have repeatedly called for: China's packaging companies can quickly develop a new cost-effective, high-barrier packaging materials, replacing expensive EVH0 or even aluminum foil, to help dairy liquid manufacturers reduce costs and eliminate the development of dairy companies in China bottleneck. Therefore, it is obviously a top priority to seek and develop new, environmentally friendly, low-cost, high-barrier packaging materials to ensure the healthy development of China's dairy market.