Organic Vapor Barrier: An Important Attribute for the Packaging of Reduced-Fat Foods, 1997 Polymers, Laminations & Coatings Conference Proceedings

The objective of this study was to demonstrate analytically that a no-fat product is more susceptible to off-odors caused by permeation of volatile organic compounds from the external environment than a full fat product, and that packaging films having flavor and aroma barrier properties can effectively protect against this contamination. A screening experiment, subjecting packages of full fat sugar cookies and fat-free sugar cookies to contamination by a blend of 3 common printing solvents was conducted. The packages were made of OPP substrates having different flavor and aroma barrier characteristics. The level of solvent in the conditioned cookies was measured by headspace GC analysis. A second experiment, with adjusted solvent levels and more packaging variables was also conducted.

Results from both experiments were consistent and showed that with the no fat cookie, there was more solvent in the headspace, available for human detection than with the full fat cookie, and there was more solvent in the full fat cookie than in the no fat cookie, across all of the film variables evaluated. The films providing an organic vapor barrier effectively protected the product from contamination, and had 2 to 30 times less solvent than the plain coextruded OPP film in the cookie.