Retort pouch

Two pouches of rice meals

A retort pouch is a type of food packaging created by aseptic processing, made from multiple layers of flexible laminate, allowing for the sterile packaging of a wide variety of food and drink, ranging from water to fully cooked, thermo-stabilized (heat-treated) high-caloric (1,300 on average) meals such as Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MREs) which can be eaten cold, warmed by submersing in hot water, or through the use of a flameless ration heater, a meal component introduced by the military in 1992. Retort pouches are used in field rations, space food, camping food, and brands such as Capri Sun, Tasty Bite, etc.

A retort pouch is a plastic and metal foil laminate pouch that is used as an alternative to traditional industrial canning methods. A pouch is a bag with 3 or 4 wide seals, which can store liquid within. Some varieties have a bottom gusset and are known as Stand-Up Pouches.

Origin

The retort pouch was invented by the United States Army Natick R&D Command, Reynolds Metals Company, and Continental Flexible Packaging, who jointly received the Food Technology Industrial Achievement Award for its invention in 1978. Retortable pouches are extensively used by the U.S. military for field rations (called Meal, Ready-to-Eat, or MREs).

Construction

A retort pouch is constructed from a flexible metal-plastic laminate which is able to withstand thermal processing used for sterilisation. The food is first prepared, even raw or semicooked, and then sealed into the retort pouch. The pouch is then heated to 240-250°F (116-121°C) for several minutes under high pressure, inside retort or autoclave machines. The food inside is cooked, similar to pressure cooking. This process reliably kills all commonly occurring microorganisms (particularly Clostridium botulinum), preventing it from spoiling. The packaging process is very similar to canning, except that the package itself is flexible. The lamination structure doesn't allow permeation of gases from outside into the pouch. The particular retort pouches used for several products consist of four layers bonded in a lamination machine. Starting from outside, the layers are:

• polyester PET Provides a gloss and rigid layer, may be printed inside.
• nylon Bi-Oriented Polyamide, provides puncture resistance.
• aluminum Al Provides a very thin but effective gas barrier.
• food-grade cast polypropylene or CPP is used as the sealing layer.

This layering method renders the packaging unrecyclable;^{[citation needed]} back to another retort pouch container or other food packaging after use, it must either be up-cycled as novel textile material for applications such as backpacks, or incinerated or disposed of in a landfill. The weight of a pouch is lighter than regular cans or bottles, and the energy required to convert is less than that of metals, paper and glass.

Reception

In the consumer market, retort pouches have gained great popularity outside of the United States, particularly in the Pacific Rim region. However, American consumers have evidently demonstrated confusion or reluctance regarding the packaging technology, and its adoption has been slow. As a result, many retort packages sold in the United States are packaged in cartons to give them an appearance more familiar to consumers. Tasty Bite products are an example of a retort pouch product packaged in a carton. Recently, several American food distributors have begun manufacturing foods in retort pouches without cartons, notably tuna canning companies Star-Kist, Chicken of the Sea, and Bumble Bee.

References

• Yam, K. L., "Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology", John Wiley & Sons, 2009, ISBN 978-0-470-08704-6

See also

• Retort