Quality Safety and Testing for Pet Food Packaging

Abstract: as pets are getting more and more popular, the quality control requirements for pet food are much stricter than

before. Besides quality safety of pet food itself, the barrier property evaluation of pet food packaging has drawn the attention

of pet food manufacturers.

Keywords: pet food packaging, barrier property, oxygen transmission ate, OTR, water vapor transmission rate, WVTR,

mechanical property, differential pressure permeability tester, water vapor permeability tester, tensile tester, leak tester, seal

strength, seal performance

With the development of living standards and the change of life styles, there have been great changes in recreation,

consumption and emotional commitments. Thus, pet industry is surging. As pets are getting more and more popular, the

quality control requirements for pet food are much stricter than before. Besides quality safety of pet food itself, the quality

control and testing for its packaging has drawn the attention of pet food manufacturers. Hereafter, Labthink will make an

introduction of barrier property, seal property and seal performance of pet food packaging, based on Labthink’s differential

pressure gas transmission rate tester, water vapor transmission rate tester, tensile tester and leak tester.

1.Barrier Property Testing for Pet Food Packaging

Barrier property refers to the barrier functioning of vacuum packaging materials against gases and liquids. In other words,

barrier property is the transmission performance of gases or liquids through vacuum packaging materials. Thus, barrier

property testing includes water vapor transmission rate testing and gas transmission rate testing which can be subdivided into

tests for detailed gases, such as oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide, etc. Barrier property is the influential factor for shelf life

product quality.

1.1 Oxygen Transmission Quantity of Pet Food Packaging

Pet food contains great amount of fat. If the packaging materials are inferior in oxygen barrier property, the product inside

would have more contacts with oxygen. If so, fat of the pet food would be easily oxidized, and led to deterioration. As to pet

food with aroma, the entering of air and exiting of aroma would influence the degree of satisfaction. Oxygen transmission rate

should be tested according to GB/T 1038-2000, Plastics-Film and Sheeting-Determination of Gas

Transmission-Differential-Pressure Method, and ISO 2556, Plastics -Determination of the Gas Transmission Rate of Films and

Thin Sheets under Atmospheric Pressure -Manometric Method. Labthink VAC series of differential pressure gas transmission

rate testers select best components with stable and reliable performance. The testers are superior to national and

international standards. Besides gas transmission quantity measurement, this series of instruments have unique functions for

determination of solubility coefficient, diffusion coefficient and permeation coefficient. Thus, fully meet the demands for

barrier property analysis and optimization.

1.2Water Vapor Transmission Quantity of Pet Food Packaging

If packaging material has high water vapor transmission rate, the pet food inside would be easily damped and get lump.

What’s worse is that germs would grow and endanger pets’ health. Water vapor transmission quantity should be tested

according to GB/T 1037-1988, Test Method for Water Vapor Transmission of Plastic Film and Sheet –Cup Method, and ASTM

E96-2000, Standard Test Methods for Water Vapor Transmission of Materials. Testing temperature is 38±0.6%, and relative

humidity is 90±2%. Labthink PERME series of water vapor transmission rate testers is manufactured with highly precise

weighing sensor to improve testing accuracy and shorten the determination period for permeation equilibrium effectively.

Correspondingly, the whole testing process can be shortened. Meanwhile, temperature and humidity control technology has

been combined with weighing technology, and with the help of computer control technology, automatic measurement can be

realized with precise testing results and no external interference. Thus, the water vapor transmission rate testing for

aluminum foil or other high barrier materials can be completely satisfied. There are several instrumental options, including

single-cell, three-cell, six-cell or twelve-cell water vapor transmission rate testers.

2. Mechanical Property of Pet Food Packaging

The mechanical properties are the fundamental indexes for pet food product during production, transportation, shelf life and

usage, etc., which include tensile strength, elongation, heat seal strength and tearing strength, etc.

2.1 Tensile Strength

Tensile strength is termed as the biggest strength value of pet food packaging material before breakage. Through testing,

breakage resulting from packaging materials with insufficient tensile strength can be effectively observed. Labthink XLW series

of auto tensile testers are specially designed for packaging industry. Main functions, including testing item selection,

parameter selection and sampling process after testing are all in compliance with relevant standards. Operators only need to

select testing items to complete corresponding tests. Reports with standard testing results can be produced without

conversion. One tester can accomplish seven kinds of tests, including tests of tensile strength, elongation, peeling strength,

heat seal strength and tearing, etc. With the help of menu interface, corresponding tests can be selected easily. Thus, this

series of tensile testers are the most professional of the industry.

2.2 Heat seal strength

Heat seal strength is the analytical index for heat seal performance of the sealed place. Inferior heat seal strength would break

to failure at the sealed place and result in leakage and contamination. Labhtink PARAM HST series of heat seal testers are

precisely monitored by mini-computers, and are designed with human friendly interface. All the core components are world

famous. With the help of the above mentioned tensile testers, precise heat seal measurement of pet food packaging can be

accomplished. Several types are for selection.

2.3 Tearing Resistance Property

During storage and transportation, pet food packaging may be torn to breakage by external forces. Sufficient tearing resistance

strength can reduce expansion of tearing, so as to avoid breakage. Besides, tearing strength is an important index to evaluate

open easiness of pet food packaging for customers. Labthink PARAM SLY-S1 Tearing Tester applies computer control and

display, as well as computer horizontal adjusting technologies, so as to guarantee accurate and reliable testing results. The

innovative Three Circle technology can help users better analyze and evaluate. It’s of the highest automatic standard and

precision globally.

3. Leak Testing of Pet Food Packaging

Leak and Seal performance of pet food package refers to the sealing reliability of such packaging. Through testing, the sealing

performance of the whole package can be confirmed. There are several methods for seal performance testing, and the most

common practice is by leak tester. For example, Labthink PARAM MFY-01 Leak Tester applies vacuum method to ,according to

national standards, keep 0.5 min. at -30kpa, -50kpa, -70kpa and -90kpa respectively. As to vacuum package, it’s necessary to

observe the recovery of sample after testing.

This method is a qualitative eye observation. As to quantitative leak and seal testing, positive method instrument can be

applied, such as Labthink PARAM LSSD-01 Leak and Seal Strength Tester.

When the abovementioned properties are qualified, there are other necessary indexes to guarantee product quality within

shelf life period. For more information, please visit: www.labthink.cn

Yarina Gao

Marketing Department

Email: trade5@labthink.cn

Tel: 86-531-85060139