PROCESS FOR PACKING AND AGING MEAT PRODUCTS

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for packaging meat products by feeding a flat plastic foil to a filling tube and thereby shaping it into a cylindrical shape that surrounds the filling tube and is sealed at the overlapping edges, whereby the meat product is filled into the foil tube via the filling tube and the tube is then sealed at the ends and detached. It is thereby essential that the flat foil for use with raw meat products is extruded from long-fibered synthetic fibers and has a water and/or steam permeability of at least 40 g/m2d and that the packed raw meat products are subsequently preserved by the removal of moisture and/or by smoking.

Description

The invention relates to a method for packaging meat products, in particular sausage products, by feeding a flat plastic foil to a filling tube and thereby shaping it into a cylindrical form that surrounds the filling tube and is heat-sealed at the overlapping edges, whereby the meat product is filled into the flexible foil tube thus formed via the filling tube and the flexible tube is then sealed at the ends and detached.

The said method is extensively used for sausage packaging, but also for packaging cheese, herb butter and the like. An essential advantage is that the flat foil, which can be pulled off from rolls, is shaped into calibers of different sizes and automatically heat-sealed at the overlapping edges and simultaneously filled with the product. After the desired amount of product has been filled in, the flexible tube is sealed by two closely successive clips or the like and separated between the clips, so that the sausages are already dispensed from the packaging and filling machine in a separated form.

in this case, mono or composite foils are used which are impermeable to steam and oxygen, whereby it is important that the foil is easily heat-sealable, so that the overlapping edges can be quickly and reliably joined by the addition of heat.

However, the described method is to date only used for aged meat products such as boiling sausage, cooking sausage and other foods such as herb butter, soft cheese, etc., i.e. for those food products that do not require any aging after packaging, but should be tightly sealed vis-à-vis the surroundings and, if necessary, also boiled.

On the other hand, in all other meat products which are to be aged or preserved by drying, i.e. e.g. raw sausages, semipreserved products and the like—salami sausages are best known—it is necessary to make the casings either from natural skins or non-edible cellulose fibre skins and collagen skins, optionally reinforced with cellulose, because only casings of this type which are permeable to steam enable the drying of the packaged product. However, casings of this type are considerably more awkward in handling. Thus, with natural skins, there is the problem that they cannot be produced and processed cost-effectively and, moreover, are only available in specific calibers. If casings of collagens and optionally cellulose are used instead, then a pretreatment with acids, lyes and water is required for the coagulation, neutralization and washing out.

The manufacturing of said casings represents a further expensive process: The casings must be gathered after they have been produced, i.e. mechanically pushed together to form a caterpillar, so that they can be transported in a space-saving manner to the filling machine. This requires that the casings be moistened prior to the gathering, so that they become soft and flexible and are not damaged by the gathering wheels of the gathering machine during the mechanical load. After the gathering process, the gathered, moist casings must again be dried to the desired residual moisture to prevent the formation of mold.

The processor or filler must then again moisten these caterpillars by soaking in water before the filling process, so that the casings can be fed to the filling machine. This soaking also conceals a high hygienic risk.

However, if the gathered casing is delivered to the filling machine in a moistened state, i.e. ready to be filled, then a chemical must be added to the water which is required for the moistening to prevent the formation of mold. Moreover, the damp caterpillar must be transported to the filling machine in a container which is impermeable to steam to prevent drying.

Based on this, the object of the present invention is to improve the known packaging method for meat products in such a way that raw meat products, which must still undergo a drying and aging process after packaging, can be packed while avoiding the aforementioned problems.

According to the invention, this object is solved in that the flat foil for use with raw meat products, in particular for raw sausage and semipreserved products, consists of a fleece which is made with a component of at least 80% long-fibered synthetic fibers and has a water and/or steam permeability of at least 40 g/m²d and that the packed raw meat products are subsequently preserved by the removal of moisture and/or by smoking.

The natural skins and collagen and fiber casings thusfar required for raw sausage products can be replaced by a fleece foil of this type. The manufacture and production of the casings is thereby considerably simplified. In particular, the moistening which is no longer required prior to the gathering of the casings and also prior to filling is omitted. Moreover, the hygienic conditions when using the foil according to the invention are significantly more advantageous.

To obtain the desired drying and aging in the shortest time possible, it is recommended that the foil have a water and steam permeability of more than 100 g/m²d, preferably more than 150 g/m²d.

In addition, the foil should also be permeable to gas, so that gases that occur during the aging process can escape.

In order that these properties can be optimally realized, it is recommended that the synthetic fibers be extruded with a fiber length of at least 5 mm, preferably at least 50 mm. It is most advantageous to work with an endless fiber. The fiber(s) is/are placed crisscross adjacent to and on top of one another and then heat-sealed together at the points of contact or intersection. As a result, the desired permeability and the required stability can be guaranteed.

The thickness of the foils is selected in such a way that a foil weight of at least 30 g/m², at the most 300 g/m², sets in. The preferred range is between 40 g/m² and 200 g/m².

Especially suitable as material for the fibers are polyvinylidene chloride, polyamide, polypropylene, polyester and/or polyethylene from which a heat-sealable fleece foil is produced in the spun/bond method. It is also within the scope of the invention to work with fibers made of other materials, as long as the fibers have a casing of a heat-sealable or sealable plastic, in particular, therefore, of a thermoplastic material.

In addition, it is essential and unusual for packaging raw meat products that the fleece foil be supplied to the filling tube without prior moistening. This also applies when they are brought onto the filling tube in a gathered form prior to folding over.

Generally, the filled raw meat products must still then age for a long time. Therefore, in a further development of the invention, it is recommended that the flat foil be treated with preservatives, in particular potassium sorbate, prior to the filling process. As a result, the danger of mold formation, which is considerably higher in raw meat products than in conventionally filled products, is clearly reduced.

Moreover, it can be advantageous to treat the flat foil with propylene glycol and/or glycerine, so that it becomes softer and more easily peelable.

The aforementioned treatments can advantageously be carried out in such a manner that potassium sorbate and/or propylene glycol and/or glycerine is dissolved in water and the foil passed through an immersion bath formed therewith. Any residues of the solution still adhering to the surface are then removed by rolling, stripping or the like. Advantageously, the aforementioned immersion bath contains about 10 to 30% propylene glycol, about 5 to 20% glycerine and about 1 to 10% potassium sorbate.

To facilitate removal of the foil from the product, it can be recommended, depending on the type of product, that the foil have an anti-adhesive coating on the side facing the product. The thickness of this anti-adhesive coating is in the μ-range. Preferably, it consists of cellulose, acrylate and other substances known to a person skilled in the art, whereby liquid smoke or other flavouring substances are also suitable, if one wishes to simultaneously influence the taste of the product. Other coatings for the foil are also possible, perhaps to control its permeability.

The flat foil is advantageously made completely of long-fibered synthetic fibers; however, it is also within the scope of the invention to add about 15% to about 20% foreign fibers, in particular cellulose fibers or derivatives thereof.

It is decisive for the use according to the invention of the known packaging method for raw meat products that the products can be preserved after packaging by removal of moisture and/or smoking, i.e. that the foil has adequate water and/or steam permeability. This permeability is reduced in the overlapping area of the foil edges, that is there where the edges are heat-sealed together to form a flexible tube. It is therefore recommended that this area be stippled after the bonding or heat-sealing, i.e. to make numerous microholes, so that the gas and moisture permeability is just as good as in the non-heat-sealed foil area.

Further particulars of the invention can be found in the following description of an embodiment and the drawings, showing

FIG. 1 a schematic illustration of the filling system;

FIG. 2 the individual procedural steps.

First, a roll with the flat foil 1 according to the invention can be seen in FIG. 1. This is a fiber fleece which is made from an endless fiber. The fiber is coextruded from a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) core and a PET (polyethylene) casing and has a diameter of 5μ to about 100μ, preferably about 10 to about 50μ. It is laid out on an underpad in an orderly or disorderly fashion in strands which are adjacent to and above one another, so that an area weight of about 20 g/m² to about 200 g/m² results. This fleece is then heat-sealed at certain points, so that a so-called spun/bond material is produced. It is cut into the desired width (about 3 m) and length (about 2000 m) and wound on supply rolls. From there, the foil is separated in such a width that it results in the desired caliber of the sausage with a peripheral overlapping of a few millimeters when being shaped into the form of a flexible tube, so that the overlapping width for the joining of the two foil edges in a heat-sealing station is sufficient.

After the flat foil has been produced, it is also advantageously treated by preservatives, so that it is better suitable for the later use with for raw meat products. This treatment is advantageously carried out with a solution of bactericidal and/or fungicidal preservatives. These substances are applied to the foil by spraying or an immersion bath. Subsequently, they are optionally scraped off the surface of the foil, however, they remain inside the foil and consequently have a longer lasting effect than with preserving by heat or drying. Suitable preservatives are sorbates, benzoates, sulfites, nitrides, acetates, propionates and other legally certified substances for food. An aqueous solution with sorbic acid or sorbates, optionally with additional substances, is especially suitable for the present application.

The foil 1 treated in this way is pulled off a supply roll via a vertically freely movable dancer roll 2 and conveyed to a shaping shoulder 3. By means of this shaping shoulder, the foil is shaped cylindrically in a known manner, whereby it is placed about a filling tube 7. The foil 1 thus made into a flexible tube 1a is then run along a heat-sealing beam 4 which heats the overlapping foil edges and seals them. The sealing surface can be perforated with microholes to improve its permeability. The tubular sealed casing is conveyed by conveyor belts 5 into a gathering area 8 which is in the vicinity of the outlet end of the filling tube 7. A clipping machine 6, where the foil tube is clipped off and detached, adjoins it.

FIG. 2 illustrates the procedural steps in detail:

The tube end sealed by a clip 1b and the gathering area 8 found on the filling tube 7 can be seen in Fig. a. After the tube end has been clipped, the filling process starts, as a result of which the sealed tube end is pressed forward into the position shown in Fig. b. After the preset portion has been dispensed, the dosing feeder actuates the binding process. For this purpose, according to Fig. c, the tube is tied off with fingers 1c in a known manner and, according to Fig. d, a braid 1d is pulled. Two clips are placed on the pulled braid at a distance from the clipping machine 6. A blade 9 between the clips then separates the filled sausage. It is transported away by a conveyor belt or via a discharge tray. The process is repeated at the sealed tube end on the right side.

Of course, it is also within the scope of the invention to provide the fleece foil according to the invention as a prefabricated tube which is heat-sealed on the overlapping longitudinal edges and to then convey this tube to the filling tube 7.

In summary, the invention offers the advantage that raw meat products, in particular raw sausage and semipreserved products such as salami, can now be quickly and hygienically packaged with any caliber desired and can age in the packaging. Moreover, the fleece foil according to the invention can be processed by rolls of up to 2000 m length, whereas the previous skins were limited to 60-80 m length.

Claims

1. A method for packaging meat products, in particular sausage products, by feeding a flat plastic foil to a filling tube and thereby shaping it into a cylindrical form that surrounds the filling tube and is sealed at the overlapping edges, whereby the meat product is filled into the foil tube (1a) thus formed via the filling tube (7) and the tube (1a) is then sealed at the ends and detached,

characterized in that the flat foil (1) for use with raw meat products, in particular for raw sausage and semipreserved products, consists of a fleece which is made with a component of at least 80% long-fibered synthetic fibers and a water and/or steam permeability of at least 40 g/m2d and that the packed raw meat products are subsequently preserved by the removal of moisture and/or by smoking.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the water and steam permeability is at least 150 g/m2d.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the synthetic fibers have a length of at least 50 mm, preferably at least 100 mm up to endless fibers.

4. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the weight of the flat foil is at least 20 g/m2, at most 300 g/m2, preferably between 40 g/m2 and 200 g/m2.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the synthetic fibers consist of polyamide, polypropylene, polyester and/or polyethylene.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the synthetic fibers have a casing of heat or high-frequency sealable material, in particular thermoplastic materials.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that the casing has a lower melting point than the casing material.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the synthetic fibers are deposited adjacent to and on top of one another and are joined together in the spun/bond process to form a flat fleece foil.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the flat foil (1) is delivered to the filling tube (7) without moistening.

10. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the flat foil (1) is treated with preservatives.

11. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the flat foil (1) is treated with a solution of propylene glycol and/or glycerine.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that, in addition, the solution contains potassium sorbate.

13. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that the solution contains about 10 to 30% propylene glycol, about 5 to 20% glycerine and optionally about 1 to 10% potassium sorbate.

14. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the flat foil (1) has a coating, in particular an anti-adhesive coating, on its side facing the meat product.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that the thickness of the anti-adhesive coating is in the μ-range.

16. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that the anti-adhesive coating consists of cellulose, acrylate and/or liquid smoke.

17. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the flat foil (1) has a maximum of about 15% to about 20% foreign fibers, in particular of cellulose.

18. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that microholes are arranged on the overlapping, sealed edges to increase the gas and moisture permeability.

19. Use of the flat foil in the automatic packaging of foods, in particular according to the method of claim 1,

characterized in that the flat foil used for raw meat products, in particular for raw sausage and semipreserved products, consists of a fleece which is made with a component of at least 80% long-fibered synthetic fibers and a water and/or steam permeability of at least 40 g/m2d and that the packed raw meat products are subsequently preserved by the removal of moisture and/or by smoking.

20. Use according to claim 19, characterized in that the foil is provided as a prefabricated tube which is heat-sealed on the overlapping longitudinal edges.