We all know that with vacuum packaging, food packaging has a great guarantee. Various packaging technologies are constantly emerging in the modern market, and the application of high technology has provided a solid foundation for the improvement of food packaging. Among many packaging technologies, each has its technical advantages. The one I am going to talk about, from Guangdong Lepai Intelligent Technology, is a gas flushing packaging technology used in food packaging machines.

Gas flushing packaging, as a food packaging technology, has a long history. As early as the 1930s, Europe and America began to study the use of CO2 gas to preserve meat products. In the 1950s, research developed the replacement of air in canned beef and cheese with N2 and CO2 gases, effectively extending shelf life. In the 1960s, due to the development of various airtight plastic packaging materials, many foods such as meat, fruits, vegetables, cakes, tea, and dairy products successfully adopted gas replacement packaging technology. In the 1970s, gas flushing packaging for fresh meat was widely used in Europe and America, and since then, gas flushing packaging has flourished worldwide. It can be said that gas flushing packaging technology is very skilled in the use of food packaging machines and is very common in the modern food packaging industry.

Gas flushing fresh-keeping packaging is also known internationally as MAP or CAP, and domestically as gas flushing packaging or gas replacement packaging. It uses packaging materials with gas isolation functions to package food. According to customer practical needs, a certain proportion of O2+CO2+N2, N2+CO2, or O2+CO2 mixed gases are injected into the packaging to prevent the quality of food from declining in physical, chemical, and biological aspects or to slow down the rate of quality decline, thereby extending the shelf life of food and improving its value.

Common applications of gas flushing packaging:

1. The use of CO2 in food packaging

China has successfully researched the use of nanotechnology to efficiently catalyze CO2 into biodegradable plastics. Even when the catalyst for producing plastic from CO2 is "broken down" to the nanoscale, it achieves the polymerization of catalytic molecules with CO2, allowing each gram of catalyst to catalyze about 130 grams of CO2, forming new packaging materials containing 42% CO2. As an environmentally friendly material with excellent degradability, its application prospects are broad.

2. The use of nitrogen in food packaging

Nitrogen (N2) is an ideal inert gas with unique effects in food packaging: it does not chemically react with food and is not absorbed by food, which can reduce the oxygen content in the packaging, greatly inhibiting the growth and reproduction of bacteria, molds, and other microorganisms, slowing down the oxidation and spoilage of food, thus preserving food freshness. Nitrogen-flushed packaged food can also effectively prevent crushing, sticking, or clumping of food, maintaining the geometric shape, dryness, crispness, color, aroma, and flavor of the food. Today, nitrogen-flushed packaging is rapidly replacing traditional vacuum packaging and has been applied to fried potato chips, fries, and other fried foods. It is particularly favored by consumers, especially children and young people, and nitrogen-flushed packaging is expected to be used in more food packaging.

3. The use of composite gases in food packaging

Composite gas flushing fresh-keeping packaging is commonly referred to as MAP packaging internationally. The gases used in gas flushing fresh-keeping packaging generally consist of CO2, N2, O2, and a small number of special gases. CO2 can inhibit the growth and reproduction of most aerobic spoilage bacteria and molds; O2 inhibits the growth and reproduction of most anaerobic spoilage bacteria; it maintains the color of fresh meat, supports the oxygen respiration and freshness of fresh fruits and vegetables; N2 serves as the filling gas. The composition ratio of composite gases is appropriately selected based on the type of food, storage requirements, and packaging materials to achieve high-quality preservation of packaged food, good retention of nutritional components, and to truly maintain the original characteristics, extending the shelf life of fresh-keeping products. Composite gas flushing fresh-keeping packaging has been widely used both domestically and internationally.

With the rapid development of science and technology, product packaging has become an important means to promote sales and enhance competitiveness. Many new technologies, new processes, and new ideas have been applied to packaging design, packaging processes, packaging equipment, new packaging materials, and new packaging industries. Packaging design has entered the computer age, and a design method suitable for rapid updates, relying on computers and various information systems, has emerged. Today's designers must possess basic packaging design skills, but also think critically, appreciate, and understand creativity, while computer technology is built on the foundation of these skills. Packaging designers must also understand relevant packaging manufacturing processes, how to select materials, and how to use modern packaging manufacturing equipment, such as pre-press processing equipment and post-press processing equipment. Not only has packaging design moved towards computerization, but packaging technology in the use of packaging machines has also integrated with computers, which is an important trend in the development of the packaging machine industry today. In the future, more technologies will be integrated, and the advantages brought by computers will only get better.

The forming of packaging includes the forming of metal packaging, plastic packaging, paper packaging, and other composite material packaging. The forming of many different materials has been simplified and made scientific through the use of air pressure, impact, wet processing, and vacuum technology.