IGMPI

Faculty of Food Safety & Quality

Packaging of Fats and Oils

By Associate Prof.- Kajal Verma

Institute of Good Manufacturing Practices India

For feedback on this lecture, Please write to [email protected]

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Packaging Systems/Types of Pack
Traditionally, oil and fats have been packed in 15kg square tinplate containers. The other types of packages like
plastic containers, lined cartons and flexible pouches have been recently introduced. Even though packaging has
witnessed many changes, till today about 52% of oil and fats continue to be traded in loose/unpacked form. This
includes retail selling of loose oil from 15kg tins as well.

This allows a lot of scope to pursue the dangerous practice of adulterating the oil with less expensive and
unhygienic varieties. Due to adulteration of oil, deaths have been reported in Spain, Phillipines and India.
Consequently, the governments in these countries have taken a step forward to encourage use of inexpensive
safe and hygienic plastics packaging for edible oil. Plastic packaging provides safe hygienically packed oil at
competitive cost to consumers.

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It is extremely important that, whatever the packaging material used, it should be food grade
and non-toxic. The product package compatibility is the starting point and shelf-life follows
compatibility.
Packaged oil and fats offer various advantages such as:
• Ease in quick disposal at retail points
• Ease of identification
• Tamper evident and therefore chances of mixing or adulteration minimised
• Quality is guaranteed
• No need for consumer to carry own container
• Convenience in storage and use by the consumer
• No wastage due to spillage at retail shops/containers
• Brand identification can be established

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Packaged oil, vanaspati and ghee are well accepted and the quantity in packed form is growing
steadily.
The array and availability of packaging materials, sizes and shapes of package construction are
unlimited. In the present day, consumer is willing to try and use new materials. Modern packaging
technology provides many opportunities to maintain product protection while reducing the cost.
The main requirements for a packaging system for edible oil, vanaspati and ghee should be:
• Non – toxic and compatible
• Protect against environmental factors
• Machinable
• Leak-proof and transport-worthy
• Easy to store, use and handle
• Printable

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Package Types

Tinplate Containers

Tinplate containers are widely used for packaging of edible oil. They ensure a long shelf-life and are
sturdy. They are also suitable for high filling and packaging operations. However, the disadvantages of
using a tinplate container are its high cost and uncertainty about availability.

Edible oil are packed in tinplate containers of different capacities – 500g, 1kg, 2kg, 5kg and 15kg. The
shape of the container may be round or square.

IS – 10339 : 1988 gives the specification for ghee and edible oil tins (500g, 1kg, and 5kg), whereas IS:
10325 – 1989 gives the specification for 15kg square tins for vanaspati and edible oil and ghee.

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Of late, tinplate containers of 1 kg, 2 kg and 5 kg capacities are being replaced by plastic containers
for edible oil and vanaspati, but are still in use for ghee packaging.

It is most unfortunate that reuse of tinplate containers is prevalent even though banned under
GSR 575 (E) dated 4/8/95. 15kg tinplate containers used for packaging of edible oil, use not
only seconds but also printed sheets, where inks could cause a major health hazard.

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Glass Bottles

Though glass bottles provide excellent protection and can also be used for high-speed operation,
they are not commonly used for edible oil packaging because of their fragility and high tare
weight.

Semi – Rigid Containers

These are mainly plastic containers made from HDPE (High Density Polyethylene), PET (Polyethylene
Terephthalate) and PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride). The advantage of using these containers is that they provide
a moderately long shelflife, are light in weight and are transport-worthy.

Although they do not provide as long a shelf-life as the tinplate container, they are economical as
compared to a tinplate container, and therefore, suitable for use where very long shelf-life is not required

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HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) Containers

Blow molded HDPE containers in the form of bottles (200g, 400g), jars (1kg and 2kg) and jerry cans (2kg, 5kg
and 15kg) are widely used specifications for blow molded HDPE containers for packaging of vanaspati.

PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) Bottles

With the introduction of PET bottles in the country, edible oil is one of the commodities being packed in 1 kg
stretch blow molded PET bottles.

PET bottles have excellent clarity, are odour–free and have good gas barrier properties. PET bottles are also
accepted internationally for edible oil packaging. IS: 12887 – 1989 gives specifications for PET bottles for edible
oil packaging.

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PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) Bottles

Recently, food grade stretch blow moulded PVC bottles have been introduced for packaging of edible oil in
the country. PVC bottles have good clarity and excellent oil resistant properties. IS: 12883 –1989 gives
specifications for PVC bottles for edible oil packaging.

Other Semi – Rigid Packs

The other forms of semi – rigid containers recently introduced in the market are the bagin-box systems,
lined cartons and the tetra packs, for marketing edible oil, vanaspati and ghee.

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Flexible Plastic Pouches

Flexible pouches may be made from laminates or multi-layered films of different compositions.
The pouches may be in the form of pillow or as stand-up-pouches. Limited quantities of edible oil, vanaspati and
ghee are packed today in flexible pouches of 1 kg, 500 g and 200 g capacity.

The main advantage of packaging oil, vanaspati and ghee in flexible pouches is that they are more economical
than any other packaging system available for packaging of these products. IS: 12724 – 1989 gives the
requirements for flexible packaging materials for packaging refined edible oil.

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The selection of a laminate or a multi-layer film is governed primarily by the compatibility of the
contact layer, heat seal ability, heat seal strength and shelf-life required, besides machineability and
physical strength parameters.

The shelf-life factor is interrelated to the product quality when ready to pack as well as to the market
environment. It is of utmost importance that an economical optimum medium is chosen and this can
only be done if the quality parameters are fixed for the products at the time of packing.

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With the upper limits of the properties (spoilage levels) being known, lower the initial values and lower the shelf-
life required, more economical would be the packaging medium. If the oil properties at the point of packing are
nearer the upper limits, higher is the packaging media specification requirement to achieve the given shelf-life
period.

Similarly, longer the shelf-life needed, higher would be the material specification. The task becomes more difficult
when the above two factors play concurrently. Consequently, the cost of packaging also goes up.

Thus, the primary factors that should be fixed are the shelf-life period, market conditions and initial values of
critical parameters of edible oil. The upper limits of various edible oil, vanaspati and ghee in respect of critical
factors as per the relevant standards are given in Table below.

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Analysis of Needs and Shifts

Analysis of results from some studies in flexible packaging materials carried out indicate that flexibles with
appropriate thickness and specifications could be effectively deployed for edible oil, vanaspati and ghee
packaging, for medium and even for long shelf-life periods. The criteria that need specific consideration are
excellent barrier properties, good substrate bond and heat seal property. Amenability to machine run is yet
another important criterion.

Currently, flexible packaging for edible oil and vanaspati is being used only for 1kg and less quantity. The common
materials for producing composite film structures depend on the performance desired and include:

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• High Density Polyethylene (HDPE)
• High Molecular High Density Polyethylene (HM-HDPE)
• Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)
• Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE C /C ) 4 8

• Nylon 6 (PA-6)
• Ethylene Vinyl Acetate Copolymer (EVA)
• Ethylene Acrylic Acid Copolymer (EAA)
• Polyester (PET)
These polymers are used either in co-extruded films or in laminates.

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Structures and Critical Polymers

Structures

Based on the requirements, various laminated, 3 and 5 layer co-extruded structures have been developed. They
include:
• Typical Laminate Structure-PET + Adhesive + 3 Layer co-extruded LD/LLD film with primacor (EAA) as sealant
layer
• Typical 3 layer co-extruded film consists of LD+ LLD-HM HDPE-Primacor (EAA)
• Typical 5 layer co-extruded film consists of LD+LLD-Tie-Nylon 6-Tie-Primacor (EAA)

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These structures have one common polymer, i.e. Ethylene Acrylic Acid Copolymer for the sealant layer, and
it provides an excellent seal integrity through oil contamination, good hot tack and lower seal temperature.
The EAA could also be replaced by octane based LLDPE.

Generally HDPE blends with LD/LLD provide low MVTR in the co-extruded film and also avoids excessive
stiffness in the film which may result in failure during drop test. For low OTR, either Nylon-6 or Polyester
or other like polymers can be used depending on the structure and shelf-life required.

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Critical Polymers
• PRIMACOR* (Registered trade mark of Dow Chemical Co., USA) Ethylene Acrylic Acid Copolymer (EAA)
In general, the performance of ethylene acrylic acid copolymers improves with increased percentage of
acid copolymers and its characteristics can be summarised as follows:
• Seal integrity:
• Excellent sealing through oil contamination
• Minimum seal strength deterioration over the period of shelf-life
• Withstands longer transportation
• Ease of processing
• Insensitivity to moisture under normal conditions
• Low sealing temperature
• Excellent Hot tack

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• Linear Low Density Polyethylene (C & C )4 8

The success of the flexible pouch for packaging of edible oil and vanaspati has to a large measure, been on
account of the LLDPE content in the structure. LLDPE is a narrow molecular distribution copolymer having
butene-1and octene 1. In film form they have:
• Good impact strength
• Tensile strength
• Good puncture resistance
• Excellent hot tack seal strength
The blending of LLDPE with LDPE resin gives excellent hot tack and seal characteristics. LLDPE with
octene copolymer provides superior performance with regard to tensile strength, toughness, impact strength,
stress crack resistance and tear resistance, excellent hot tack and sealing through contamination etc.

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• Metallocene Polyethylene
As compared to polyethylene resins made by using standard catalyst, the metallocene
technology claims to offer better strength characteristics, better oxygen and moisture barrier
characteristics, high clarity and greater toughness.
• Ionomer (Surlyn)
The ionomers are tough, transparent, having high tensile strength, low softening point, good
abrasion resistance and good oil resistance. The most important properties of film are:
• Heat sealability and hot tack strength
• Excellent optical properties
• Resistance to oil and co-extrusion with nylon with excellent adhesion.

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• NYLON-6
Nylon-6 based multi-layer film has unique combination of properties such as:
• High barrier
• Aroma retention
• Puncture resistance
• High burst strength
• Tie Layer
In a 5 layer structure, the tie layer is being used for bonding two different polymers such as Nylon-6 and PE.
Primacor can also be used as bonding layer since it offers good adhesion to both Nylon-6 and PE. As Nylon-6
is sensitive to moisture and picks up moisture during processing and weakens bond strength, grafted
copolymers are being used as tie layer in 5 layer structures, to overcome this.

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• Polyester
PET is being used for lamination with co-extruded film, which enhances properties such
as:
• MVTR/OTR
• Excellent printing
• Aroma retention
• Excellent burst strength in the pouch
A shift to flexibles stands to offer many advantages, primarily in terms of cost to the consumer and overall
economy. One should, however, not lose sight of the critical needs a flexible medium and pouch should
satisfy. The other important aspect relates to secondary and tertiary packaging, as unlike the rigid tinplate or
plastic containers, the pouch does not offer any contribution in the performance of the total system.

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A Closer Look

The distribution of edible oil and vanaspati – common essential commodity for the masses, assumes greater
significance as the days progress. The growing health and hygiene problems due to adulteration and
increasing per capita consumption has increased the demand for safe delivery of the product to the
consumer. What is, therefore needed, is packaging at its most economical level.

Flexible Plastics as Economical Media

If one compares the product sale cost v/s the packaging cost for various types of packages, the most
economical pack would be a flexible pouch.

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Flexible Plastics as Effective Solid Waste Reducing Media

While selecting a packaging medium, its effect on the environment needs to be considered, as solid
wastes are causing problems. Flexible plastic pouches, in comparison to other packaging systems, stand
to offer an advantage in reducing solid waste, as they are lighter in weight. Considering a pack of 1litre,
the approximate tare weights of different packaging media would be:

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Moreover, flexible pouches can be recycled and reproduced for other non-food packaging applications
or as building materials etc.

Indian Standards for Packaging of Edible Oil, Vanaspati and Ghee

A variety of packaging materials/package types are used by the oil, vanaspati and ghee industries. The
Bureau of Indian Standards has drawn up specification details/ requirements, method of sampling,
tests of different packaging materials/packages used by the industry.

Table 6 gives a list of Indian Standards related to packaging of edible oil, vanaspati and ghee.

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Legislations

On account of being essential commodities, the edible oil, vanaspati and ghee are subjected to
the following regulatory legislations:
• Prevention of Food Adulteration Act
• Directorate of Vegetable Oil Products
• Bureau of Indian Standards
• Directorate of Agricultural Marketing and Inspection
• Food & Drug Administration & Rationing Offices of State Governments in Essential
Commodities Act
• Ministry of Civil Supplies
• Package Commodities, Weights and Measures Act
• Occasional interstate transport restrictions imposed by State Government
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