Non-hermetically sealed food package and method

#The present invention relates to packaging of flowable food products in plastic film, and in particular, it relates to the continuous packaging of such food products by heat sealing such film in a non-hermetic fashion.

#The packaging of flowable food products such as processed cheese, processed cheese food, and cheese spread is well known in the art. The following patents describe methods and machines for forming such a packaged food product. 1 Meli et al. 5,800,851 Meli et al. 5,701,724 Meli et al. 5,619,844 Meli et al. 5,440,860 Meli et al. 5,347,792 Meli et al. 5,112,632 Bush 3,542,570

#The present invention includes a method for packaging a flowable food product, in particular cheese. The present invention forms a cheese package having a non-hermetic seal. A continuous moving web made of a heat sealable polymeric material has a non-heat sealable strip secured thereto and oriented in the machine direction. The web is moved in the machine direction while one longitudinal edge portion is placed over the other longitudinal edge portion in an overlapping relationship to form a food tube such that the non-heat sealable strip is disposed between the edge portions. The tube is heat sealed proximate the first longitudinal edge portion and filled with the flowable cheese product. The tube filled with cheese is then flattened. The flattened tube is heat sealed and cut at selected intervals in a transverse direction to form discrete individually packaged food slices. Each discrete individual food slice package has an opening along the non-heat sealable strip thereby providing a non-hermetic seal to the food package.

#FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the package of the present invention.

#FIG. 2 is a plan view of the polymeric web used to form the packaging of the present invention.

#FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a cheese package of the present invention.

#A cheese package of the present invention is generally indicated at 10 in FIG. 1. The cheese package is made from a longitudinal moving web generally indicated at 12 in FIG. 2. Although cheese is specifically referred to, it is understood that the present invention may be used to package other flowable food products.

#The process of the present invention is used to package a cheese product from molten cheese. The cheese product is made using conventionally known materials and processes. Cheese product derived from molten cheese includes processed cheese, processed cheese food and processed cheese spread and other processed cheese products. As used herein, the term “processed cheese” refers to cheese that is made by grinding one or more varieties of natural cheese. The ground cheese is heated and mixed with an emulsifying agent. The ground cheese mixture is then processed until it is homogeneous and exhibits a plastic consistency. As used herein, the term “processed cheese food” refers to a cheese product that is generally formed using the same components and procedures as processed cheese. However, cheese food may include additional diary ingredients such as cream, milk, or whey. As used herein, the term “processed cheese spread” refers to a cheese product that is generally similar to processed cheese food. However, processed cheese spread has a fat level that is less than processed cheese food or processed cheese. Other processed cheese products that fall outside these three traditional cheese standards are also considered cheese products as used herein. Such cheese products are typically made in “slice” form and packaged in a clear or translucent plastic film.

#Such packaged cheese slices are produced in continuous manufacturing processes using machines that package the cheese in a polymeric web 12 that is provided in a continuous web form. A current example of a machine used to process such webs is the Kusmer KD, manufactured by Kustner Industries, S. A. of Switzerland. The web 12 is made of a food grade polymer or polymers. Usually such polymers are thermoplastics. Typically, such food grade films are of multilayer construction having a base polymer layer and sealant surface layers. Preferably, the base polymer is polypropylene and the sealant layers are ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA). However, the polymer layer construction of the web is not particularly important to the present invention just as long as the film can be used to package foods and may be heat sealed.