Today it is difficult to believe in this, but more recently, plastic bags have been a great value and even a scarcity, and not one of the types of disposable packaging. Fortunately times have changed for the better and in almost every kitchen you can find a roll of food polyethylene or polyvinyl chloride film. Mistresses appreciated all the positive aspects of this material and use it with great success for storing products, packing various parcels and cooking food. And all the most interesting about food film you can learn from our article.
Film for food products
First, let's get acquainted with the heroine of our article closer. The food film can be either polyethylene or polyvinyl chloride (PVC). And although it is difficult for a layman to distinguish them from each other at first sight, there are certain differences in their characteristics. The main one is practically complete gas and water resistance of polyethylene film in contrast to its "breathing" PVC relative. In this regard, the film made of several thin layers of polyethylene can be used only for cold food, for example, for packing scraps , vegetables, fruits, bread. Products under such a shell will not be exposed to destructive effects of the environment and will fully retain their properties throughout the life of the product. The attempt to pack something in a plastic wrap film will end in a complete fiasco: it will simply shrink and lose its protective properties. Not the best way, polyethylene reacts to a prolonged drop in temperature - in the freezer it will quickly become cloudy and become brittle. But the PVC-film will perfectly cope with both hot and frozen food products, and the dish under it will not lose its attractiveness and will not fog. In addition, it is virtually indifferent to fats and acids, which again makes it an ideal solution for packaging freshly cooked dishes. Moreover, the ability to withstand sufficiently high temperatures makes it possible to use such a film even in a microwave oven, for example, to reheat dishes without removing the packaging. Moreover, such different films have much in common - both of these materials have the ability to stretch almost three times their original length and perfectly adhere to any surface. All this allows you to almost instantly pack products of any shape and size, without using any third-party clamps and latches. And it can be done both with the help of special packing machines, and by moving the roll of film by hand.
Shrink food film
A special place among food packaging materials is shrink film. Its distinctive characteristic is the ability to contract under the influence of heat and take the shape of the object to be packed. She has found the widest application in the sphere of trade, where various food products are packed in such a film. In this case, the film retains high transparency, and therefore the consumer has the opportunity in all
Thickness of food film
Standard polyethylene food film is available in thickness of 6, 7.5 or 8 microns. For PVC film for food, this parameter can be 8, 9, 10, 12 or 14 microns. When choosing the thickness, you should focus on the type of products that will be packaged. So, for packing berries, fruits, mushrooms and vegetables, a PVC film with a thickness of 9 microns is needed. And for meat, fish and semi-finished products, you need to take a film with a thickness of 12-14 microns.