Cheese Packaging - Contd...

Heat shrink packaging machines

In principle, these machines are similar to the types used for the bulk packaging of cheese. In Scotland, the Cheddar and Dunlop cheeses are produced on different islands are packaged in heat-shrink bags, e.g. cryovac. Normally the closure in this kind of packaging is a metal clip. However, nowadays this kind of closure is being replaced by heat-sealing of the bag, after the application of vacuum and prior to heat-shrinking.

Miscellaneous Equipment

Recent innovations in the retail packaging of cheese have been primarily geared towards protecting and benefiting the consumer, and the changes include the following like

Improvement in the ease of opening the cheese pack

Introduction of peel-off packs supplied with reclosable lids. However the material used and some of the peel of type packs tend to change colour i.e. they become opaque when opened.

Thirdly, the zip type closures

Incidentally the reclosable packs are normally made from a semi-rigid plastic material. The zip type closure consists of two parts.

1. The tear-off strip
2. The zip section

During the packaging of the cheese portions, the zip wedged between the two webs in the vacuum chamber of the thermoforming machines and heat sealed with packaging material after removal of the air. The sequence of opening by the consumer is as follows

• Tear off the strip
• Pull the zip apart
• Remove the portion of the cheese and
• Close the zip and place in refrigerator.