MAP - Does anyone have experience with packaging to a oxygen level of around 2% to 3.5% in the finished package?
We package with an airspace in our packages. We use 30%CO2 and 70%N2 to fill this airspace after pulling partial vacuum with a thermoforming packager. We used to have an oxygen level requirement in our finished packages of 0.5% to 2.0% and all was pretty good. We recently changed our oxygen level requirement in the finished package to 2.0% to 3.5% and all is not so good. We have a 4-track, 2-row configuration so we seal eight packs per cycle. With the old lower O2 levels we could hold a spread across the eight packages in a cycle of about 0.5% (highest O2 reading to lowest O2 reading in a cycle) and it was not hard producing in spec packages. Now that we are at the higher O2 level requirement we are LUCKY if we can hold a 1.5% spread so we are fighting constantly to remain in spec and really slowing production. Has anyone experienced anything like this?
Thank you in advance for any information relating to this that you can provide.
McQ
Good afternoon McQ and welcome to the forums - I see this is your first posting.
What is the food item that you are packaging?
Hard boiled eggs, two per pack, eight packs per seal cycle.
Thank you for your response.
Randy McCue
Thanks Randy - is there also a solution, water, etc in each pack with the egg(s)?
Most of the eggs have just been cooked and chilled in a continuous inline process and part of that process is spending 18 minutes going through a chill tank with a water and citric acid mix at a pH of between 2.5 and 4.0. They then go under a water spray and then to packaging so only the residual water is left on the egg when it drops in the pack. It is not enough to produce more than a few drops in the pack. We do store some offline cooked eggs in large containers of the water/citric brine at that same pH and scoop them later onto the belts leading to the thermoform packager.
Short answer is that only residual water remain on the egg when it goes into the pack :-)
Thank you