McCormick Microwave Cooking Bag Makes Sauce Delicious

McCormick's new sauce called "Finishing" is packaged in a 5-ounce cooking bag that can be heated in a microwave oven. The move to sell this sauce in a cooking bag is considered by many to be a pioneering move. There are five different types of products, including honey mustard juice, burgundy red wine for beef stew, vanilla roasted chicken juice, cream mushroom juice, and roast beef sauce. This vertical bag consists of a reverse-printing, high-seal polyester/oriented stretch nylon/polypropylene adhesive composite layer, and is produced by Flexibles-Converted Products, a division of Ampac Packaging. The composite structure does not contain aluminum foil, so it can be steamed, heated in a microwave, and withstand cooking temperatures of 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

Stefanie Woodhouse, product manager for McCormick's Finishing Sauce Line, said, “There are no other liquid gravy products in the United States that use this kind of flexible packaging. Often these products are contained in glass jars.”

Woodhouse said that processing and printing can sometimes make the structure of the sealed package easy to produce flex cracks, thereby reducing its sealing performance. McCormick needs a package that is easy to use and can be stored at room temperature. She added: "We require that the shelf life of the package be at least 12 months."

In order to make the bags easy to use, Ampac uses “cool-grip” heat seals on both sides. The seal is located at the edge of the upper half of the package, which greatly simplifies the use of the package after heating in a microwave oven. The width of the heat seal is sufficient to provide adequate control of the package, but it is not so wide that it interferes with opening, thereby affecting efficient filling and packaging.

Ampac has purchased a Toshiba eight-color step-drive gravure press to produce high-definition printing products. The packaging of these bags is corrugated boxes, six per box.

Source: Packaging Expo