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Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Two flexible food packaging barrier material film structures were employed for this research study to evaluate the effects of over-the-road truck transport. The films containing different barrier materials, ethylene-vinyl alcohol (EVOH) or aluminum oxide (AlOx), were selected based on their abundant use within the flexible food packaging arena. Pouches were formed and filled with tomato paste before being thermally processed then palletized for shipment. Pouches were shipped over-the-road via truck transport a distance of 2,500 miles. After transport, the oxygen transmission rate (OTR) of the pouches located on the bottom and top layers of the palletized loads were obtained and compared to reported OTR for the respective film structures. Reported OTR matched closely with pouches located on the bottom layers, but did not correlate with pouches from the top layers. Comparing the two materials, the OTR results from the bottom layers of each pallet were not significantly different from each other (p > 0.05). The OTR results of the two barrier materials showed there was a statistical difference in OTR when comparing the top layer pouches (p < 0.05). Results from this study showed it is imperative to evaluate packaging materials in the environment and application it will be utilized in order to develop an optimum packaging solution.

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