In 1930, Clarence Birdseye developed the double-belt freezer and introduced the first line of frozen foods for public sale, cited the Frozen Food Industry. Since then, frozen foods have only grown in popularity, from the 1950’s TV dinner invention to inexpensive frozen fruit and vegetable options. Yet while the frozen food industry would not exist without Birdseye’s initial invention, adhesives also get credit for making these foods possible.
Packaging
Adhesives resistant to temperature extremes are used to package food products that can go both in the freezer and in the microwave. Below are some examples of these adhesives:
•Turbo-Seal Cold Seal adhesives can withstand temperature extremes. These cold seal adhesives offer strong moisture-resistant seals, which are beneficial in a freezer environment.
•Most of Bostik’s Vitel® resins are approved for direct food contact and can be used in dual ovenable applications. This means they can go directly from the freezer to the microwave or conventional oven.
•Bostik also offers a line of Herberts® laminating products that can be used to manufacture food packaging laminates for use in retort or other laminating applications.
Labeling
A frozen food product needs a special freezer-grade label. Every element of the label, especially the adhesive and substrate, must be stable at room temperature and able to withstand the cold extremes of a freezer. It’s important that the adhesive doesn’t freeze or “deaden”, which would cause the label to fall off the package.
•Bostik manufactures Thermogrip® H2259-01 hot melt adhesive for freezer-grade labels. The product has excellent cold temperature performance, adhesion to polyolefin substrates and very good processability. H2259-01 has low viscosity with good die-cutting and can handle temperatures down to -15°F.