Patent Application
20160221742
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an on-the-go food package that is hermetically sealed to facilitate heating of the contents of the package and barrier protected for extended shelf life of the contents.
2. Prior Art Background
Modern society is on the go, and there is plenty of demand for a quick bite at all times of the day. Busy citizens demand quick meal options. There is a need for quick on-the-go (OTG) foods that can be heated in a microwave or turbochef.
It is also desirable to consume some food products at temperatures above room temperature. This is frequently the case when a food that has been cooked is being consumed. Ideally, a consumer wants to eat the food shortly after it has been prepared so it is still warm. The on-the-go food products are typically heated in a microwave, on a stove, inside a hot air oven, or other known heating method, shortly before they are consumed. Similarly, many examples of commercially available refrigerated and frozen foods exist in the marketplace, which are also heated shortly before consumption.
On-the-go food products, such as pasta, noodles, rice, pizza, soups, sandwiches, tortilla chips, instant oatmeal, cereals, grits, and potato fries are typically sold to consumers in individual single serving or multiple serving packages from convenience stores or grocery stores. The food products are typically packaged in non-microwavable packages. Therefore, the food products need to be transferred into a microwavable/heat-able container and then heated before consumption. Currently, heating is accomplished by adding a separate susceptor or an added package container for heating. Some food packages provide a microwavable/heat-able container as a separate piece in the overall package. Most convenience and grocery stores provide microwave oven or turbochef oven for heating. However, prior art fails to disclose packaged direct contact food which is microwaveable/heat-able using the actual packaging itself to create/control the product heating in the microwave oven. Consequently, a need exists for a package of food that allows a consumer to directly heat and consume the food products inside.
In the case of on-the-go food products, cooking and packaging technology enables market participants to store and sell on-the-go food products for weeks or months at room temperature after they have been cooked, before they lose their desirable organoleptic properties, become stale, or become microbially unstable. Such products are known in the industry as shelf stable food products. Shelf stable food products require packaging with sufficient barrier properties to moisture and oxygen migration in order to keep the food products from becoming microbially unstable.
Prior art fails to disclose an on-the-go food product/package that has direct food contact, shelf stable with moisture/oxygen barrier, hermetically heat sealed, multiple product combinations meal replacement, microwave and turbochef oven cooking safe.
Consequently, there is a need for an on-the-go food container that accomplishes the following objectives:
While these objectives should not be understood to limit the teachings of the present invention, in general these objectives are achieved in part or in whole by the disclosed invention that is discussed in the following sections. One skilled in the art will no doubt be able to select aspects of the present invention as disclosed to affect any combination of the objectives described above.
The present invention in various embodiments addresses one or more of the above objectives in the following manner. The invention includes a molded pulp base container sprayed with a barrier and a sealant layer, used as a heat-able package for on-the-go (OTG) food products. The container by itself, in one embodiment, is used for microwave/oven heating the food contents in the container, eliminating the need for a separate susceptor or an additional package for heating. The inside surface of the container is spray coated with a food-safe poly layer to create a moisture/oxygen barrier for shelf life stability. A sealant layer is directly applied on top of the barrier layer to provide hermesicity for the container. Adding a brine solution and a percentage of sodium to the finished package formulation, selectively heats the food contents of the package while keeping the package itself cool enough to handle. In another system embodiment, a condiment package is fitted to a formed top of the container.
The present invention system may be utilized in the context of method of making a heat-able container for storing and heating food, the method comprises the steps of:
Integration of this and other preferred exemplary embodiment methods in conjunction with a variety of preferred exemplary embodiment systems described herein in anticipation by the overall scope of the present invention.
For a fuller understanding of the advantages provided by the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description together with the accompanying drawings wherein:
While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detailed preferred embodiment of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the embodiment illustrated.
The numerous innovative teachings of the present application will be described with particular reference to the presently exemplary embodiment, wherein these innovative teachings are advantageously applied to the particular problems heat-able on-the-go food products apparatus and method. However, it should be understood that this embodiment is only one example of the many advantageous uses of the innovative teachings herein. In general, statements made in the specification of the present application do not necessarily limit any of the various claimed inventions. Moreover, some statements may apply to some inventive features but not to others.
The term “on-the-go food product” as used herein is defined as a food product that is consumed for snacking or meal purposes. The term “microwavable” as used herein is any container/vessel that can be safely used without degrading/deforming in a microwave as recommended by regulatory standards. It should be noted that the term “package”, Package container“, and “container” are used inter-changeably to indicate an article that is shaped to hold food products.
One aspect of the present invention provides consumers with a direct contact food package purchased at grocery or convenience stores which is microwaveable/heat-able using the actual packaging itself. Another aspect of the present invention involves adding salt and/or brine solution to the container to create/control the OTG food product heating in the microwave or hot air oven. The present invention is also directed towards a method of heating food products such as tortilla chips and oatmeal using microwave energy, in a microwave oven or a hot air oven such as turbochef.
The microwave oven is an appliance that can be found in many homes and businesses. During operation, a microwave oven floods the cooking chamber with non-ionizing microwave radiation, usually at a frequency of about 2.45 GHz. Another commonly used microwave frequency is 915 MHz. The power level of most consumer grade microwaves varies from about 900 Watts to about 1400 Watts.
Many food molecules (for example water molecules) are electric dipoles, which means they are positively charged at one end and are negatively charged at the other end. As the microwave radiation passes through the food, the dipole molecules rotate as they try to align themselves with the alternating electric field of the microwaves. This rotation and movement causes the food to heat up as the rotating molecules impact other molecules, putting them into motion. Microwave heating is highly efficient on liquid water (which is a relatively polar molecule), and much less so on fats and sugars (which are less polar).
The microwave radiation can be produced by a cavity magnetron, and directed into the food chamber through a waveguide. The waveguide in most small, consumer grade microwaves directs the microwave radiation into the food chamber from one side of the food chamber, usually at a location between the middle and the top of the food chamber. The microwave radiation generally reflects off the walls of the food chamber, but is absorbed by any water-bearing food present in the food chamber, thereby exciting the water molecules. The radiation reflecting around inside the food chamber forms an approximately uniform heating environment, with some localized hotspots due to constructive and/or destructive interference between microwaves.
The term “hot air oven” as used herein is a control system that precisely coordinates impinged air (which evenly browns the outside of food) with microwave energy (which evenly cooks the inside) to rapidly cook food without compromising quality. Some examples of hot air ovens are products manufactured by TurboChef Technologies, Inc.
Applicants herein have created a food package that enables a consumer to heat OTG food product in the microwave or a hot air oven without the need for an additional microwavable susceptor in the package. In one embodiment, the package is a microwave-safe container that comprises a pulp material, wherein the inner surface of the container is coated with a barrier layer and a sealant layer. There are a number of embodiments of this invention which fall within the scope of the invention in its broadest sense.
The present invention may be seen in more detail as generally illustrated in
Similar to the generally illustrated rectangular shaped container in FIG.1, a bowl shaped heat-able shell (6001) made of paper pulp comprising a “closed” formed top (6003) attached to a bottom base (6004) is illustrated in FIG.6 (6000).
The pulp packaging material, in a preferred exemplary embodiment, is made from 100% post-industrial raw materials and no chemicals are added during the pulping process. According to an exemplary embodiment, the pulp material composition comprises water, natural emulsified wax, and recycled corrugate material. For example, the composition may be 5% natural emulsified wax, 10% water, and 80% recycled corrugate material. In another example, the composition may be 20% natural emulsified wax, 10% water, and 70% recycled corrugate material. The composition may be in the range of 1-20% natural emulsified wax, 1-30% water, and 50-95% corrugate material. Typical uses of molded products are for packaging electronic equipment, cellular phones, and other household and hardware items. Very high-capacity, high-speed molding equipment is used to produce drink trays, cup carriers, wine shippers, egg cartons, egg trays, pulp bedpan liners, fruit trays, slipper pans, end caps, etc. But, pulp material has not been used for “direct contact” food packaging.
Applicants herein have created a food package with pulp material that has other properties such as:
According to one exemplary embodiment, the inside surface of the shell is coated with a barrier layer that reduces the rate of moisture and oxygen migration through the container. The barrier layer may be needed to keep the food products fresh and also keep the food from becoming microbially unstable. In addition, the barrier layer may help extend the shelf life of the package, in some cases by more than 6 months. In one exemplary embodiment, the barrier layer is made from a material such as Michem® Coat 95 manufactured by Michelman, Inc. The material may be water-based coatings that are selected primarily for grease and oil resistance. Other benefits of the Michem® Coat 95 material include water resistance, release, coldset gluability, hot melt, gluability, and recyclability. The barrier layer has thermal properties to withstand heat in a microwave or hot air oven and also adhesive properties to stick to the fibrous side of the container (2002). The barrier layer material is also food safe.
According to yet another exemplary embodiment, a sealant layer that is food safe is directly applied on top of the barrier layer. The sealant layer is exposed to the “food side” and is in direct contact with the food contents. The sealant layer material, in one preferred exemplary embodiment, is MICHEM COAT 1398.E manufactured by Michelman, Inc. The properties of which are shown below
A cross-section of the inside surface after the application of the barrier and sealant layers is illustrated in
According to a further exemplary embodiment, addition of a brine solution or adding a percentage of sodium to the finished package formulation controls the moisture content of the package. According to a preferred exemplary embodiment, the percentage of salt in the finished package formulation may range from 0-40% by weight. According to a more preferred exemplary embodiment, the percentage of salt in the finished package formulation may range from 0-20% by weight. According to a most preferred exemplary embodiment, the percentage of salt in the finished package formulation may range from 0-10% by weight. The salt content within the package formulation may work with the microwave oven to activate the molecules to heat the product inside the pulp package. The added sodium in the pulp package helps drive the heat towards the food contents in the inside of the package while keeping the outside relatively cooler. This assists with the handling of the package with a human hand after the package has been removed from the microwave or hot air oven.
The thickness of the pulp layer may be varied to alter the thermal characteristics such that the food contents are rapidly heated while keeping the container cool. In one exemplary embodiment, the thickness of the pulp layer is between 1 mil and 50 mils. In a preferred exemplary embodiment, the thickness of the pulp layer is between 20 mils and 40 mils. In the most preferred exemplary embodiment, the thickness of the pulp layer is between 25 mils and 35 mils. For example, the thickness may be increased to reduce the cook time. According to yet another exemplary embodiment, thermal characteristics of the container may be changed to cook food contents rapidly with the salt additive, brine solution additive, and/or varying the thickness of the pulp materials or combinations thereof. The formed top (2003) may also be used as a warming tray for added condiments to be heated. In addition, the bottom portion of the container may have a seat (2005) extended around the perimeter may be shaped to accept/seat a condiment package. The formulation will allow more control of the product heating without introducing any additional components to the finished package.
Embodiments of the present invention will also work with confectionaries, candies, cookies, and other food products that people desire to consume at temperatures above the temperature at which they are sold or stored.
As generally illustrated in
Similar to the condiment package in
As illustrated in
According to a preferred exemplary embodiment, the sealant layer and the barrier layers are food safe up to 500° C.
A method of making a heat-able container for storing and heating food is illustrated in FIG.7 (7000). The method may be generally described in terms of the following steps
This general method summary may be augmented by the various elements described herein to produce a wide variety of invention embodiments consistent with this overall design description.
The present invention system anticipates a wide variety of variations in the basic theme of a heat-able container for storing and heating food therein, the container comprising a paper pulp material shaped to hold the food, a barrier layer and a sealant layer applied to an inside surface of the container; the barrier layer sandwiched between the sealant layer and the inside surface of the container.
This general system summary may be augmented by the various elements described herein to produce a wide variety of invention embodiments consistent with this overall design description.
The present invention method anticipates a wide variety of variations in the basic theme of implementation, but can be generalized as a method of making a heat-able container for storing and heating food, the method comprises the steps of:
This general method summary may be augmented by the various elements described herein to produce a wide variety of invention embodiments consistent with this overall design description.
The present invention anticipates a wide variety of variations in the basic theme of on-the-go heat-able packages. The examples presented previously do not represent the entire scope of possible usages. They are meant to cite a few of the almost limitless possibilities.
This basic system and method may be augmented with a variety of ancillary embodiments, including but not limited to:
One skilled in the art will recognize that other embodiments are possible based on combinations of elements taught within the above invention description.
