DuPont Teijin FilmsTM, a global leader in polyester film, is promoting its new Mylar® COOK range, ground-breaking ovenable films designed to deliver a no touch cooking experience for meat or fish. The Mylar® COOK range has EU food contact approval for use in a microwave or conventional oven and in the USA has received FDA approval up to 425°F (218°C). The range of films covers practically any standard packaging method, including film suitable for bag making machines, horizontal or vertical flow pack or even standard roll stock thermoforming.

DuPont Teijin Films’ range of heat sealable and thermoformable films make packing fresh or frozen meat or fish in an oven ready pack a reality.

Cooking in the packaging delivers a number of benefits to both the consumer and the food packer. Cook studies have shown that cooking in the pack can not only reduce cooking time in some examples by up to 50% in microwaves and 25% in conventional ovens, but perhaps most importantly delivers enhanced flavour and texture, delivering ‘restaurant quality’ meals at home.

Food packers can add a sauce or marinade during the automated packing process, adding value and elevating raw proteins to restaurant quality ‘almost ready meals’. A further benefit to food service applications is the control of the product throughout the food chain giving a higher degree of confidence for food safety. This ‘no touch’ cooking system is an innovative way of reducing the risk of contamination from pathogens such as campylobacter. Products can be cooked in Mylar® COOK via microwave, conventional oven or contact grill and as the product is safely encapsulated it allows for mixed products to be cooked at the same time on the same piece of equipment without the risk of cross contamination between meat, fish and vegetables.

Mark Dawes, market development manager, told Packaging Europe: “This solution brings a host of consumer advantages (such as food safety, convenience and portion control) as well as delivering exceptional flexibility to manufacturers, thanks to its compatibility with the whole range of flexible packaging technologies. There is an increase in public awareness around the risks of food poisoning from handling raw meat and fish, with a particular emphasis in the UK around reducing the number of food poisoning cases caused by campylobacter which is commonly found in raw poultry. The ‘No Touch - No Smell - No Fuss’ promise allows food packers to deliver food safely from factory to fork and can eliminate the fear of contamination during the preparation of food.”

Mylar® CKF is a thermoformable film which is uniquely designed to go from the freezer or fridge direct to the oven and as product is packed under a vacuum, delivers a higher quality end product by reducing “freezer burn”. When combined with DuPont Teijin Films unique range of lidding films Mylar® CKF introduces a range of exciting new packaging concepts, including tray replacement. Mylar® CKF not only delivers all of the benefits of ovenable packaging but can also present significant packaging weight and cost savings.

New for 2011 is CKS, a heat-sealable film suitable for horizontal and vertical flow wrap applications which uniquely is also heat shrinkable to yield a tight, robust retail pack. These latest additions to the Mylar® heat-sealable and thermoformable range delivers on the commitment to develop a dual ovenable mono PET solution for all packing methods throughout the meat industry supply chain.

DuPont Teijin Films is the world's premier producer of PET and PEN polyester films, specialising in film products and related services for the speciality, industrial, packaging and advanced magnetic media and photo systems, electrical and electronics markets. Brand names include Mylar®, Melinex®, and Teijin® and Tetoron® PET polyester film, and Teonex® PEN polyester film. DuPont Teijin Films is a 50:50 joint venture between DuPont and Teijin Limited.

For more information visit:
www.dupontteijinfilms.com