Did you know that roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year – which amounts to approximately 1.3 billion tons – is lost or wasted? In the United States alone it is estimated that Americans are throwing out the equivalent of $165 billion each year.
One factor contributing to this waste is limited shelf life, particularly for packaged food products that must maintain quality and safety throughout distribution. Extending shelf life is therefore a critical focus for food manufacturers looking to reduce spoilage and improve product performance.
Hot fill processing is one method used to extend shelf life in packaged food applications. Continue reading to understand how hot fill processing works and how packaging materials support performance.
Why Shelf Life Matters in Food Packaging
Food spoilage can occur for many reasons, but a primary cause is the growth of microbes such as bacteria, yeast, and mold that feed and grow on the food product, causing it to go bad.
Extending product shelf life requires a combination of thermal processing, packaging sterilization, and customized barrier structures that maintain the integrity of both the container and the food product.
How Hot Fill Processing & Packaging Works
Hot fill is a packaging and processing technique in which heat is used to sterilize the food product and subsequently the inner surface of the container during filling. It is widely used across food applications ranging from applesauce to dips and sauces.
The process begins by initially heating the food product up to a temperature between 194-204°F to eliminate bacteria and microorganisms. The product is then cooled slightly to around 179-185°F (application dependent), filled into containers, and sealed immediately. The sealed container is then cooled for approximately 2-3 minutes as it exits the filling line and transitions to a cooling stage to reduce the internal temperature before distribution.
The main purpose of hot fill processing is to produce a product free of microorganisms that can multiply at ambient temperature. The result is a “commercially sterile product” with an extended shelf-life, typically ranging from 6–12 months depending on application and barrier structure.
Common Applications for Hot Fill Processing
Hot fill processing is used across a range of food and beverage applications, including:
Material Considerations for Hot Fill Processing
In addition to hot fill processing, selecting a material structure that provides both oxygen and moisture barrier performance is critical to extending shelf life and reducing spoilage and waste.
When developing the rollstock structure for barrier packaging applications, factors such as food product, part design, processing conditions, distribution environment and retail conditions must all be considered. Each variable directly affects shelf-life performance.
Once these variables have been defined, additional factors, including barrier specifications, shelf-life expectations, part geometry, material attributes and part handling must be evaluated to design a structure that delivers consistent performance.
Material selection plays a key role in maintaining package integrity during hot fill processing and throughout distribution.
ICPG Material Solutions for Hot Fill Processing
With increasing industry pressures on sustainability, ICPG provides material solutions for hot fill packaged products using substrates such as polypropylene and polystyrene with enhanced performance and protection capabilities for direct food contact and extended shelf-life requirements.
Concerns for material replacement under Proposition 65, and recyclability can be addressed through the development of a fully recyclable polypropylene material structure with improved performance.
These solutions include multi-layer coextruded barrier rollstock structures such as PP/EVOH/PP or PS/EVOH/PE for shelf-stable applications, as well as monolayer PP structures for refrigerated products.
However, for hot fill FFS processes, our XPP™ Polypropylene Solution offers the best compatibility with the system as a whole to meet all the needs and demands of both product and process. In addition, XPP solutions offer three levels of barrier protection that can be customized based on product specifications and desired shelf life:
- Enhanced Barrier: XPP enhanced barrier offers inherent improvement to OTR & MVTR barrier protection without the use of specialty barrier materials, additives or coatings.
- High Barrier: Customized multi-layer coextrusion with EVOH for high barrier & extended shelf-life applications.
- ICPG's Reimagined Barrier: XPP with ICPG's patent-pending Reimagined Barrier Technology (RE-BA) offers a functional replacement for EVOH and PVDC in the form of a fully-recyclable barrier structure.
Improve Your Hot Fill Processing Performance
Looking to improve performance, shelf life, or sustainability in your hot fill processing application? Download the XPP Enhanced Barrier Polypropylene product sheet to explore material options, or contact our team to discuss your application.
