Bag-in-box cereal liner now protects flavour and aroma, says Amcor
Amcor Vodex, a co-extruded cereal liner with an integral barrier to hydrocarbon based volatiles, was over two years in development and was prompted by feedback the packaging developer received from its breakfast cereal manufacturer customer base, said David Humes, business unit manager – extrusion for Amcor Flexibles Cumbria.
The functional barrier is incorporated into the polymer at the extrusion phase, said the Amcor Flexibles spokesperson, who added that there is no secondary process involved in the development of the cereal liner.
Humes told BakeryandSnacks.com that AFEA is ramping up the release of the Vodex liner following on from a testing phase with leading cereal makers in the UK and Europe.
“We have conducted extensive in-house testing on the bag-in-box liner, the results of which show that it is game changing in terms of barrier functionality.
Furthermore, recent collaboration with our customers has demonstrated efficacy of the multi-layer structure in terms of preventing volatile migration from recycled or printed board cartons and ensuring retention of product aroma and flavour,” he said.
Extension of product shelf-life is application specific, continued Humes, who added that the liner has wider bag-in-box application potential and could also be used with a range of dried food products such as cake mixes or rice as an alternative to existing laminates.
There is increasing interest in the cereal sector for technology that can help it guard against potential migration of volatiles into products from carton board, inks or the external environment.
Indeed, a number of episodes in the last few years involving the migration of non-plastic contact materials into food - particularly chemicals in printing inks such as ITX, 4-methylbenzophenone and benzophenone – have prompted a review of their safety by a scientific working group of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
The most high profile of these incidents related to the tainting of breakfast cereal in early 2009 after 4-methylbenzophenone was found to have leached into the food. A European wide investigation followed.
