Do's and Don'ts Of Flexible Packaging

Food and beverage industry invests a lot in their packaging. Having attractive designs, they tend to focus on the durability of their packaging. Since the products carry food and beverage consumables, it is very important for the package manufacturer and transporter to take care of it. Especially, flexible packaging requires a lot of attention as they are more prone to damage. Leaked pouches, puffed packs and burst packets face straightaway rejection from the distributor or retailer because they tend to spoil the complete lot. Frequent complaints of this nature may hamper the brand name and thus, affect the overall business.

What can be done to maintain the packaging intact?

There are many parameters that need to consider before actually packing the consumables because nothing much can be done later.

1) Flexible packaging should be strong enough to deal with the pressure. A bursting strength tester can help a lot in adjudging the capacity. In this test, a sample of the flexible package is placed on the tester. Then this testing instrument starts applying pressure on the sample till it burst. Then, a load sensor in the testing machine display the results on the screen. Bursting strength tester is a multi-purpose testing instrument, apart from flexible packaging samples it can be used to measure the bursting strength of corrugated boards, fabric, paper, aluminium cans.

2) It is very important that consumables when reaching to the end customer are in hygienic state and fit for consumption. So, the packing should not be puffed or leaked. Good sealing is the key to successful delivery of the packages. Seal strength tester can be used in this regard to check the minimum load its seal can bear without getting tampered.

3) The inside contents should be very well mentioned on the package. This would help the end customer to make the right decision. Deceptive packets can make consumer choosing the wrong products. Apart from providing the right information on the packet, it is important that print of the package should have a long stay. So that, all the information should remain intact, before the product gets expired.

4) It is very important for the packaging to maintain the freshness of the contents, especially in dry consumables. Otherwise, they tend to lose their original texture due to external environmental conditions. Humidity testing chamber can help in adjudging the capacity of the flexible packaging. It creates a humid environment inside the cabinet to test for how long the flexible packaging resists the humid environment.

F&B industry that primarily uses flexible packaging, consider it as their responsibility to deliver product in their original quality. Which makes it necessary for them to conduct rigorous testing before selecting their packaging.