Nitrogen – a critical element of modern food packing applications

Nitrogen is becoming an increasingly important gas in the food processing industry. Primary reason behind spoilage of many food stuffs is due to prolonged exposure to oxygen. As oxygen content in air is 21%, leaving food stuffs exposed to air causes problems related to oxidation.

Bacteria and fungal growth is promoted in food items when oxygen is present. This causes the food items to go stale and possibly rancid.

It has become important in modern food processing industry to prevent exposure of food ingredients and processed foods to oxygen.

While it is not possible to prevent oxygen exposure during the preparation of food products, it is possible to eliminate oxygen at the time the food is being packed prior to shipment. Many food packing machines now have an integrated Nitrogen fill port that allows Nitrogen to purge the food packet and also to fill Nitrogen just prior to sealing the packet.

Nitrogen allows the food packets to have increased shelf life, sometimes as much as 3 times. Nitrogen also prevents the food items to lose their texture such as crispiness. This is possible with MVS nitrogen machines which deliver very dry nitrogen gas with dew point lower than (-) 60 deg C. This dew point is also commonly known as “bone dry”. As it is not possible to reach this low a temperature in atmospheric conditions, nitrogen will not condense.

Also Read

• 15 NM³/HR NITROGEN PLANT OPERATING AT HEAT TREATMENT COMPANY IN DELHI-NCR

• Nitrogen For HVAC Industry/

• 150 NM³/Hr Nitrogen Plant Operating At Leading Chemical Company In Western India

• 65 Nm3/Hr Nitrogen Plant Operating At Leading Pharma Company In Bangladesh Since 2013

MVS has been supplying nitrogen generators with both membrane and PSA technologies to numerous customers all over India and even to customers in the middle east, Africa and other countries in South Asia like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, among others.

Nitrogen is now also used for packing milk powder in cans, sachets and packets all over the world. Leading dairy companies and companies that re-package larger consignments of milk powder into smaller package sizes, are most certainly packing in Nitrogen due to the inherent benefits and lower incidence of spoilage. This ensures that the milk powder doesn’t spoil, remains fresh and also reduces the returns from the market due to longer shelf life. In fact, even the small single serve milk sachets that are commonly used for tea and coffee are also packaged in Nitrogen.

Having worked with numerous customers who in turn use machines from different manufacturers, MVS sales team understands the packing application really well and can help you size up the nitrogen generator for your packing lines in case you are having confusion regarding this.

MVS also provides compact Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) analyzers to help you measure the oxygen content in your food packets. These are very inexpensive and a reliable way to ensure that your packaged foods are maintaining your expected oxygen levels. Contact us to learn more.