Food Packaging Testing Laboratories

Food packaging is required to meet multiple criteria, including high barrier properties (water resistance, gas resistance, etc.), high and low temperature resistance, environmental friendliness, and cost-effectiveness. Single-type materials can no longer satisfy these comprehensive demands, thus composite and coating technologies are adopted to achieve the above functions. Composite materials generally fall into the following categories:

① Outer-layer materials (suitable for printing): BOPP, PET, NY (Nylon), etc.

② Inner-layer materials: CPP, PE, etc.

③ Middle-layer materials: Al, aluminum-plated film, PET, PE, NY, etc.

④ Other materials: Cellophane, degradable film, etc.

Selecting appropriate packaging is the first step to ensuring food safety. From factory shipment to consumer delivery, food products undergo transportation, storage, and sales processes, during which they may be subjected to handling, vibration, extrusion, and other operations. Substandard food packaging can lead to bag breakage, poor sealing, and other issues, resulting in food contamination and compromised product quality.

Therefore, it is necessary to test indicators such as water vapor permeability, gas permeability, and heat-sealing performance of prefabricated food packaging materials to select suitable packaging for food products.

Testing Items

Testing Instruments

1. Water Vapor Transmission Rate Tester

Water Vapor Testing: Water is an essential condition for microbial reproduction. High water vapor permeability of prefabricated food packaging may increase the moisture content of food, leading to bacterial growth, dampness, and mold, which endanger consumer health. Therefore, testing the water vapor transmission rate of prefabricated food packaging can effectively evaluate food safety and facilitate the selection of appropriate packaging for products.

Applicable Standards: ASTM F1249, BS EN ISO 15106-2

2. Gas Transmission Rate Tester

Gas Testing: Different food packaging materials exhibit varying gas transmission rates. Low-barrier packaging materials have high gas permeability, allowing oxygen, nitrogen, and other gases to easily penetrate into food packages. These gases may react chemically with certain substances in food, affecting food taste, quality, and posing safety risks. Thus, testing the gas permeability of packaging materials is an indispensable indicator in the food packaging industry, as food safety is of paramount importance.

Applicable Standards: ISO 2556, ISO 15105-1, ASTM D1434

3. Oxygen Transmission Rate Tester

Oxygen Testing: Oxygen acts as a catalyst for many chemical reactions in food. For food packaging materials with high gas permeability, oxygen penetration increases the oxygen content inside food, accelerating food spoilage and shortening shelf life. Therefore, prefabricated food requires high-barrier materials to prevent oxygen transmission, protect food safety, extend product shelf life, and enhance product quality.

Applicable Standards: ASTM D3985, ASTM F2622, ASTM F1927, ASTM F1307, ISO 15105-2, DIN 53380-3

4. Electronic Tensile Tester

Tensile Strength & Peeling Strength: Tensile strength refers to the maximum force a food packaging material can withstand before breaking. Testing tensile strength effectively addresses packaging breakage caused by insufficient tensile resistance of materials. Peeling strength measures the adhesive strength between layers of composite films used in food packaging. Excessively low peeling strength may cause delamination during packaging use, leading to significant degradation of physical, mechanical, and barrier properties, and triggering a series of safety issues.

Instrument Features:

①　Rich functional configurations with customized services available

②　Professional operating procedures for safe and hassle-free operation

③　Compliance with multiple domestic and international standards

④　Integration with laboratory intelligent platform to achieve digital management

5. Heat Sealing Tester

Heat-Sealing Performance testing: Heat-sealing performance is a critical characteristic of prefabricated food packaging materials. By measuring the heat-sealing strength of packaging, the sealing strength of heat-sealed parts of prefabricated food packaging can be evaluated. Insufficient sealing strength may cause packaging to crack at heat-sealed areas, resulting in food leakage and contamination.

Instrument Features:

①　Advanced technology with precise temperature control

②　Simple operation and convenient testing process

③　Customizable sealing knives with anti-scald safety design

④　Authority management function to ensure data security

6. Heat Shrinkage Tester

Heat Shrinkage Testing: This test is used to evaluate the heat shrinkage performance of packaging materials. Packaging materials sensitive to temperature are not suitable for high-temperature liquid food (after sterilization), as they may cause packaging breakage or shrinkage, compromising food quality.

Instrument Features:

①　High-quality aluminum alloy liquid tank and mask with excellent thermal conductivity and insulation

②　LCD screen for real-time display of temperature and time

③　Simple operation and convenient parameter setting