Patent Application
20050158442
The present invention relates to wax-coated cheese, a new coating/opening system and a process for making same.
In many consumer packaging applications, it is important to prevent air or water or the like from passing out of or into the package containing certain products. This is particularly true with respect to cheese packages for which the contained product must be kept in a controlled environment to prevent spoilage and deterioration. In order to preserve the integrity and safety of such a cheese product contained within such a package, the periphery of the package may be hermetically sealed.
It is known from various prior art documents to protect cheese against surface deterioration as caused principally by the formation of mold, by means of a surrounding film consisting of an impermeable flexible coating material such as wax, covering the cheese to be protected and in which is embedded a strip of which one or two ends protrude from the outer surface of the surrounding envelope, thereby enabling the cheese to be disengaged from the envelope after the strip has been removed.
Such cheese products and processes for making them are for example described in French Patent No. 1,388,048.
The entire packaging process in which the cheese is covered with the protecting wax layer and with the tear strip must take place under the strict environmental conditions required to extend shelf life, which is complicated and expensive.
There is a need for a system and process for packaging cheese in a less complicated and less expensive manner.
One embodiment of the invention comprises:
In preferred embodiments of the invention the first inner wax layer is uncolored and/or the second outer wax layer is colored.
In a further preferred embodiment of the invention the tear strip comprises a plurality of holes throughout through which the first inner and second outer wax layers are firmly connected.
The cheese may be natural cheese, processed cheese, cream or fresh cheese or any other type of cheese. The preferred cheese is processed cheese.
The cheese portion may have any desired form and is preferably triangular.
The invention also may provide a corresponding packaging system useful for packaging a processed cheese portion.
In one preferred embodiment of this invention, the tear strip surrounds all three side walls of a generally triangular processed cheese portion and has one protruding portion.
In another preferred embodiment, the tear strip is provided at the two elongated side walls of the triangular processed cheese portion and has one or two protruding portions.
In still another embodiment, the tear strip is provided at the top and at one elongated side wall of the processed cheese portion and has one protruding portion.
Furthermore, there is provided a process for packaging a cheese portion that may comprise
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the tear strip has a plurality of holes throughout and step (c) is carried out under conditions which allow the first inner and second outer wax layers to melt together and form a firm connection through the holes of the tear strip.
a is perspective side view of a triangular cheese portion covered with a first inner wax layer which is surrounded on its side walls with a preferred tear strip having a plurality of holes and one protruding tear strip portion;
b is a perspective side view of the embodiment of
c is a perspective side view of the embodiment of
a to 2c are perspective side views of another embodiment corresponding to
a to 3c are perspective side views of another embodiment of the present invention with a preferred tear strip on top and on one elongated side wall of the processed cheese portion having a plurality of holes and one protruding tear strip portion.
The present invention relates to cheese and a new packaging system which is useful for packaging cheese. The key advantage of this new packaging system is the avoidance of carrying out the entire packaging process under the strict environmental conditions required to extend shelf life.
The cheese portions are simply covered under those strict environmental conditions with one preferably uncolored wax layer and all of the remaining packaging steps, i.e., fixing the tear strip onto the first inner wax layer and applying the second outer wax layer, can then be effected under less strict environmental conditions, which is most advantageous.
Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be explained with respect to the drawings.
The cheese may be any known type of cheese, e.g., natural cheese, processed cheese or cream or fresh cheese. Preferably it is processed cheese.
As mentioned above, the cheese portion to be packaged can have any desired form but is preferably triangular.
a shows in a perspective view a cheese portion 5 which is covered with a first inner wax layer 1 and which is surrounded on all of its three side walls with a tear strip 2 which has a portion 3 which protrudes from the tip of the cheese portion 5 and which has as a preferred embodiment a plurality of holes 6 along its length. The tear strip 2 has been fixed onto the first inner wax layer 1 by means of an adhesive.
b shows the embodiment of
c shows the same embodiment which has been opened by tearing away the tear strip 2 from two sides of the triangular cheese portions. It can be seen that the inner side of the tear strip 2 is covered with the first inner wax layer 1 which has been torn away from the cheese portion 5 and the tear strip 2 can be easily and completely separated by further tearing the tear strip 2 from the third side wall of the cheese portion 5. Finally, the top and the bottom comprising the second outer wax layer 4 and the attached first inner wax to layer 1 can then easily be separated, and the cheese portion 5 is ready for consumption.
If the tear strip 2 has holes, the second outer wax layer 4 is applied under conditions which lead to a melting together of the first inner wax layer 1 and the second outer wax layer 4 and the melting together also takes place through the hole of the tear strip 2, so that the tear strip 2 is firmly fixed between the first inner and second outer wax layers 1, 4, so that the tearing away of the tear strip 2 takes with it the corresponding parts of the first inner wax layer 1 and the second outer way layer 4.
After detaching the top and bottom portions of the second outer wax layer 4 to which the first inner wax layer 1 firmly adheres, the cheese portion 5 is ready for consumption.
A similar embodiment is shown in a perspective view in
A further preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in
The situation after tearing away tear strip 2 is shown in
The process for packaging cheese according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be illustrated in more detail. The process will be described with respect to process cheese. However, as mentioned above, the invention may be useful for any type of cheese.
As a separate first production step hot and liquid process cheese is filled into casings and cooled down. These casings with process cheese can be stored for several days before proceeding with the following production steps.
After removal of the casing the firm process cheese sausage is cut into slices (preferably round) and each slice is cut into portions 5 (preferably six portions 5 that are generally triangularly shaped). Due to this cutting operation the preferred triangle portion 5 consists of 2 straight sides and 1 rounded side. After the cutting these cheese portions 5 are placed separately on a conveyor belt. Automatically by transporting on belts and rolls the portions pass a waxing station. The wax is hot and liquid and will cover the portions 5 completely (preferably the wax is sprayed onto the top and bottom of the portion 5) with a thin first inner wax layer 1 which might be optionally colored. These production steps from the removal of the casing through application of the first wax layer 1 are preferably conducted in a clean room environment. After these production steps it is possible to take out the waxed process cheese portions and store the portions (preferably under refrigeration) for several days.
The following steps can be done without clean room conditions. The pre-waxed process cheese portions, either from the storage or directly coming out of the first waxing step, pass a label applicator which adds self-adhesive labels with or without holes onto the first inner wax layer 1. Some options how to apply the label are set forth below. Other label shapes and label positioning on the first inner layer wax 1 are possible.
Option 1: the self adhesive label is a rectangular elongated tear strip 2 with or without holes 6 which is applied onto the two sides of the first inner wax layer 1 with a protruding portion 3 (opening handle) on the tip of the portion 5 (
Option 2: the self adhesive label is a rectangular elongated tear strip 2 with or without holes 6 which is applied to the two long sides of the first inner wax layer 1 with a protruding portion 3 close to the round side of the portion 5 (
Option 3: the self adhesive label, generally triangularly shaped with or without holes 6 is applied to the top side and to one of the long sides of the first inner wax layer 1. The protruding portion 3 is positioned at a corner of the round side of the portion 5 (
After the label placement onto the process cheese portion, the portion automatically by transporting on belts and rolls passes a second waxing station. This wax is also hot and liquid and will cover the portions completely (preferably the wax is sprayed onto the top and bottom of the portion) with a thin second outer layer 4 which might be optionally colored. The self adhesive label is designed such that a part of the label is a protruding portion 3 standing away from the process cheese portion and this part is foreseen to be used as the opening handle.
After cooling each waxed process cheese portion can be further packed. Potential options of packing are wrapping, netting, flow packing or packing into other packaging. The preferred option is wrapping into a thin pre-printed plastic film with an automatic wrapping machine.
The present invention will now be illustrated by a specific example which is not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
Process cheese is filled into sausage casings of approximately 1 meter length and 98 mm diameter. After cooling, the sausage casing is removed and cheese slices with a thickness of approximately 14 mm are cut. Six process cheese portions are cut out of each round slice with a diameter of 98 mm. The dimension of one generally triangular cheese portion 5 equals a segment with a 49 mm radius, an angle of 60 degrees and a height of 14 mm. The weight per triangle is approx. 20 g. The weight of six pieces is 120 g. Each triangle passes a wax bath (white wax, at about 85° C.) where the first transparent inner wax layer 1 is added. This wax is a blend of hydrocarbon based waxes and plastics. The triangle portion 5 is moving forward on rolls and the wax is sprayed from the top and from the bottom side to ensure that it is completely covered by wax. Approximately 1.5 grams of wax (about 0.1-0.2 mm thickness) is added. These operations are done in a clean room (according to class 10.000 US Fed. Standard 209 D).
The following operations are then done at “normal environmental conditions”. After the wax bath the triangle portion 5 is cooled down to temperatures of about 20 degrees C. by passing a cooling cell (cold air circulation). Each portion 5 is maintained (by belts) in a defined horizontal direction on the conveyor belt. One side of the triangle is in the direction of the tear strip applicator. The tear strip applicator (standard equipment, PAGO company) applies a self adhesive tear strip 2 which is made of polypropylene and coated with an adhesive layer. The rectangular tear strip 2 (preferred embodiment) contains holes 6 (preferably round, but any other shape is possible). With the aid of the adhesive one side of the tear strip 2 is fixed on the inner wax layer 1. By passing a roll, the other side of the label is pressed onto the inner wax layer 1. The tear strip 2 is added according to
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03029259.3 | Dec 2003 | EP | regional |
