key performance requirements for high-performance flexible packaging

• Barrier properties: to keep oxygen, water, light, flavor, or grease from entering or leaving the package. Barrier properties may be characterized by measuring the oxygen and water vapor permeation through the packaging material. 

• Selective permeability: to allow oxygen and carbon dioxide to permeate through the package at a calculated rate to extend the shelf life of fresh-cut produce. Oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor permeability are frequently measured and specified. 

• Abuse resistance: to prevent damage to the packaging material and its contents during shipping and storage. Abuse resistance may include puncture resistance, tear strength, impact strength, and modulus. Some packages require good toughness at refrigerated or freezer temperatures. 

• Sealability: to allow packages to be made at high packaging speeds and keep the product secure by preventing the package seams from failing. Sealability may be characterized by heat-seal and hot tack strength, heat-seal and hot tack initiation temperatures, seal-throughcontamination performance, caulkability, and seal integrity. Hot tack refers to the seal strength while still in the molten state. It is critically important for packages where the product drops into the package while the seal is still partly molten, but also for horizontally filled packages involving gussets where the spring-back nature of the folded film creates an opening force. Caulkability refers to the ability of the sealant material to flow, filling in gaps around folds, wrinkles, or product contaminants.

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