New pressure-sensitive labeling from Avery Dennison

14 Jun 2011

Improved labeling flexibility and lower costs are the benefits claimed for a new pressure-sensitive labeling solution for meat and dairy packaging applications from Avery Dennsion.

The company’s Shrink PS is designed to survive the vacuum shrink process without wrinkling. “Compared with traditional shrink-bag labeling, the Shrink PS solution offers enhanced labeling flexibility and the opportunity to differentiate products at a later stage in the packaging process,” according to a company statement.

“As a result food processors to reduce or eliminate multiple sets of preprinted bags in inventory, cutting overall costs.”

The labels are said to exhibit “superior aesthetic appeal” due to their exceptional shrinking behaviour.

Submerged in hot water following vacuum sealing, the shrinkable bags and attached Shrink PS labels shrink. The labels are said to conform to the shape of the bags containing the packaged product without the wrinkling that is sometimes associated with the labels applied by hand to the packaging after it has been vacuum packed and shrunk.

The labels can be attached to the bags using automatic label applicators, cutting the need for manual labour.

Applications include the labeling of processed meats, fresh red meats, poultry and cheese products.

The new label technology was launched at the Interpack trade event in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Beef and pork

Two other launches from the company at Interpack were oxygen valves for the oxygenation of meat and a one-way coffee value.

The Flexis Oxygen Valve is designed to allow item-level oxygenation of beef and pork products.

Nick Greco, the company’s business development manager, said: “The new valves deliver both operations and marketing advantages over more conventional packaging methods. They require meat packages to be oxygenated for case display in quantities of a dozen or more at a time rather than by individual item, according to requirement.”

Meat products are delivered in individual trays; each with a clear high-barrier lidding film equipped with a two-part valve. The valve’s upper layer can be either printed or clear.

Peeling off the top layer reveals a second permeable layer that allows the entry of oxygen.

“Item-level oxygenation yields a significant shelf life advantage for the remaining packages in the shipment because packages that are not selected for immediate oxygenation will remain fresh for longer,” said Greco. “When the valve’s upper portion is eventually removed, perhaps a few days later, the meat will then bloom into that robust red colour that attracts consumers’ attention in the retail environment.”

Degassing valve

Avery Dennison also launched a new pressure-sensitive degassing valve that can be applied at high speeds to flexible or rigid containers of ground or whole bean coffee.

The Flexis Air |One-way coffee valve is said to thoroughly degass packaged coffee, offers superior leak resistance, bonds securely and be pre-applied to packaging materials.

The valves can be applied at using automatic label application systems at speeds nearly twice that of injection molded heat seal-applied degassing valves, said the company. They are also said to offer more reliable adhesion and greater leak resistance than stiffer competitive valves.

Bill Hartman, the company’s business development director, said: “The Flexis One-way coffee valve incorporates a unique multi-layer structure which makes it more flexible and therefore more reliable stiffer conventional coffee valves. And it can be pre-applied to packaging materials before filling.”

Source: Avery Dennison