Barrier Properties Testing For Pet Food Packaging

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 barrier property evaluation of pet food packaging has drawn the attention of pet food manufacturers. Hereafter, Labthink will make an introduction to oxygen transmission rate and water vapor transmission rate testing of pet food packaging, based on Labthink’s differential pressure gas transmission rate tester and water vapor transmission rate tester.

Barrier property refers to the barrier functioning of vacuum packaging materials against gases and liquids. In other words, barrier property refers to 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 testing for detailed gases, such as oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide, etc. Barrier property is the influential factor for product quality during shelf life period.

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 Tester 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, this series of instruments can fully meet the demands for barrier property analysis and optimization.

2.Water 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 high precision weighing sensor to improve testing accuracy and effectively shorten the determination period for permeation equilibrium. Correspondingly, the whole testing process can be shortened effectively. 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 and other high barrier materials can be completely satisfied. There are several options for users, including single-cell, three-cell, six-cell and twelve-cell.

When oxygen transmission and water vapor transmission properties are guaranteed, other indexes should be monitored to evaluate product quality during shelf life period. More information, please visit www.labthinkinternaional.com.cn