Reasons for odor in coffee and tea packaging material
Reasons for Odor in coffee and tea packaging materials:
After more than 30 years of development, my country's coffee and tea packaging industry has become an indispensable industry in the national economy. Although domestic and international public opinion generally believes that coffee and tea packaging have various adverse effects on consumers' health and the environment, they continue to call for the extensive and extensive use of paper food packaging. However, the consumption of coffee and tea packaging materials is still increasing rapidly.
The original intention of developing coffee and tea packaging materials is to solve the problems of moisture, mildew, and deterioration of various foods due to lack of packaging or poor packaging. However, due to some reasons, consumers often smell the packaging when opening the coffee packaging The situation of strange smell or even bad smell in the bag has caused many conflicts and disputes between consumers and coffee factories, coffee factories and packaging factories, packaging factories and raw material suppliers.
Production packaging material stage
In the production stage of packaging materials, processes such as printing, extrusion lamination, and dry lamination will all lead to the generation of "odor". The specific performance is as follows:
Residual solvent problem
In the gravure printing and solvent-based dry lamination process of plastic composite materials, a large amount of organic solvents, such as toluene, ethyl acetate, butanone, etc., need to be used. According to the process requirements, these solvents should be volatilized during the production process, but in the actual production process, due to various reasons, there will always be more or less solvents that are not completely volatilized, which is the so-called "residual solvent", " "Residual solvent" is generally a mixture of several solvents. When the content of "residual solvent" is lower than a certain value, the human sense of smell will not feel its existence, and it will not affect the taste of the packaged coffee. When the content of "residual solvents" is greater than a certain value, people's sense of smell can sense its existence. When consumers open the food packaged in such high "residual solvents" packaging materials, they may smell something different from The coffee had a musty, rotten "smell".
The problem of resin oxidation odor
Extrusion compounding is another compounding process for compounding flexible packaging materials. In this process, granular plastic resin needs to be melted at high temperature, coated on other substrates through a die, and then cooled to shape. If the temperature is too high, the plastic resin will oxidize and decompose, producing the so-called "resin oxidation odor". If the coffee is packaged with this material, the aroma of the coffee will also change. Process conditions are eliminated.
coffee packaging stage
Other flavors from the production workshop will be mixed into the packaging, especially some air-packed foods, such as potato chips, egg yolk pies, etc., according to normal requirements, the gas inflated should be bottled spring nitrogen or nitrogen and carbon dioxide. of mixed gas. However, in order to reduce production costs, many companies fill in ordinary air, and in order to reduce the impact of the noise of the air compressor on the operation, the air compressor is generally placed far away from the packaging production line, so that other areas are inevitably The air of other flavors is poured into the food bag. Regardless of the legality of filling with air, it is self-evident that the oxygen in it will cause the oxidation of certain ingredients in the food.
Post-packaging processing stages of coffee
If the process conditions such as temperature and time used for post-treatment do not meet the requirements, it will also lead to the generation of "odor". In order to extend the shelf life of food, after the packaging process is completed, the packaged food must be sterilized, boiled below 100°C, steamed at 121°C or 135°C, sterilized by microwave ovens, and radioactive radiation. The above sterilization methods all need to be continued at a certain temperature or intensity for a certain period of time to achieve the predetermined sterilization effect, and the sterilization conditions need to be adjusted according to the weight and volume of the contents. Generally, the common problems in the post-processing process are that the high-temperature cooking equipment does not meet the requirements; the hygienic conditions of the food processing in the early stage are not paid attention to, and the sterilization conditions in the later stage are blindly emphasized, resulting in unstable product quality.
Transportation and storage stages of packaged coffee
The conditions of transportation and storage are relatively poor, mechanical collisions are prone to occur between coffee packages, and the packaging bags are under too much pressure. Bacteria in the contents that have not been strictly sterilized multiply rapidly, and the material deteriorates, resulting in bag swelling; poor selection of packaging materials, gas barrier, moisture resistance, and insufficient light-shielding properties cannot effectively protect the contents, resulting in the loss of the original contents Fragrance, moisture, discoloration; poor packaging process, resulting in lax or damaged seal, resulting in the leakage of the inner inflation gas and the entry of external air and bacteria into the packaging bag. The packaged coffee is not sold or consumed in time, so that the shelf life is exceeded.
The researchers found that the so-called "odor" of packaged coffee has many manifestations, and the reasons for the "odor" are also various. It may cause "odor" in all aspects of coffee production, transportation, storage, sales, and consumption. Ultimately, the products produced cannot realize their value, resulting in a waste of social resources, or causing physical and mental harm to consumers.
Because the "odor" problem of packaged coffee is not only a problem of coffee producers, but also a problem that all relevant links in the whole society should pay attention to. In addition, relevant departments have strengthened the management of enterprises to eliminate the "odor" of packaged coffee from the source.
