46
AUG2017
FOOD FOCUS THAILAND
SMART
PRODUCTION
What isRetort Pouch?
Retort pouch ishigh temperatureandpressure resistant foodcontainers
used in ready-to-eat food processing. The ready-to-eat food products
are food thermal processing todestroymicroorganisms in foodbyusing
fullysealedcontainer (Hermeticallysealedcontainer) throughaprocess
of controlling temperature, duration and pressure which is sterilization
inhigh level (Commercial sterilization) toensure thegoodhygiene.Once
the products have been made, it can extend the shelf life of foods to
12-24months, itdoesn’tneedpreservativesand freezerswithoutcausing
food spoilage ormicroorganisms harmful.
DevelopmentofReady-to-EatFoods inRetortPouch
Retort pouch technology for ready-to-eat productshasbeen invented in
1960. This technology was applied on foods production by the United
StatesofAmerica in1965-1968 for astronaut foodproductionandarmy
provisions production. In 1980, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(USFDA)hascertified theuseof retortpouch technology for ready-to-eat
foods for household industry. Afterward this technology has become
well-known and widespread inmany countries over the world such as
Japan is one of the countries who favor to consume the ready-to-eat
foodswhichcanbegenerally found in theirmarkets formore than1,000
items. On the other hand, not so many years that Thailand interest in
this technology,puttingon themarketof ready-to-eat foods in retortpouch
has increased, but itmainly imported frommanycountries. Thismaybe
due to the fundamental foodproductionofThailandusuallybeconceived
of other food processing i.e. dried, chilled, frozen or canned foods; if
compare to another kind of ready-to-eat foods, it can be deduced that
these are not well-known products for Thai consumers.
However, many of Thai entrepreneurs has aimed to invest in food
industry especially on exported ready-to-eat foods in retort pouches
including integrationof this technology to continuously createnew food
innovation to fulfill themarketinggaps of domestic foodmanufacturing.
FactorsofExtendingShelfLifeofReady-to-EatFood
inRetort Pouch
Extending shelf lifeof ready-to-eat food in retort pouchhas similarity to
canned food production process which is a sterilization of pre-cooked
foodsby retortmachine todestroymicroorganism in foodspreventing it
from thespoiling.Also, retortpouchhasqualificationofprotectingagainst
exposure to air and microorganism of sterilized foods. With these
prominent qualifications, it canextend shelf lifeof theproducts to12-24
monthswithoutaneedofpreservativesand freezers.Extendedshelf life
factors are;
•RetortPouch:
Retortpouch isa fullysealedcontainer (Hermetically
sealedcontainer) ina formofpouchconstructedwith laminateof flexible
filmscalledflexiblecan.Thefilmsare tolerant tohigh temperaturegreater
than121°C. Thepouchmainly consistsof 3 films layersare inner layer,
the thickest layer, it isamainstructureof thepouchwhichdirectlycontact
with foods (Physical food contact layer) usuallymade of Polypropylene
(PP) and Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET); middle layer, this barrier
layer is usually made of EVOH films preventing passing of gas and
moisture; finally, outer layer, it is constructed with durable, tough and
printablematerials suchasPolyester, etc.
• Heating in the Level of Sterilization:
Sterilization is heating of
foods in the fully sealed container todestroymicroorganismswhichare
causesof foodspoilagebycontrolling temperatureanddurationsufficient
tokill thosemicroorganismsandsuit toeach typeof food.The industrial
sterilization or commercial sterilization has aimed to be effective to
eliminate harmful germs especially
Clostridium botulinum
, pathogens
and spoilagemicroorganism.
Presently, therearevarious foodproduction innovationsand technologiesprovided forentrepreneurs toapplyupon theirpurposes
i.e. ready-to-eat foodsproduction, reducing theuseof foodchemicals following theworld trend, extendingof foodproductsshelf
lifewithoutusingofpreservativesand freezers,etc.Focusingon foods innovationwith thesequalifications, retortpouch technology
for ready-to-eat foodscanbedeemedasan interestingalternativeandservingconsumers’satisfaction, also, it canbedeveloped
and integrated as food innovation for future.
ExtendedShelfLife InnovationwithoutPreservativeandFreezer
