Frozen Food / IQF
IQF is an abbreviation for “individually quick frozen”, a process which freezes food rapidly so there is no damage to the cellular structure of the food. The packaged food goes through a blast freezer IQF tunnel at 40 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. The finished bags are then shipped directly to the supermarket freezer section.
The inventor of IQF foods was Clarence Birdseye who developed the process in the late 1920’s.
The process places two demands on the IQF frozen food film:
1. The frozen food film must exhibit fast hot tack to seal through contaminants such as ice, blood, water, fats and bits of product trapped in the seal.
2. IQF film must have excellent low temperature stability and not flex crack when cold.
An ordinary polyethylene will not suffice. Our virgin resin food grade FDA / Kosher approved IQF grade is stable and strong at low temperatures. Brentwood Plastics IQF film seals through contaminants even when the seal area is contaminated. The high slip / low COF film provides maximum speeds over the VFFS forming tube.
IQF film is applied in three ways:
1. Plain or printed rollstock for vertical form/fill/seal VFFS with impulse sealing jaws to create an overlap seal.
2. Sealant layer of lamination usually to polyester, with resistance sealing jaws to make a “fin” style seal on a pillow shaped pouch. Large volume pouches with a plastic reclosable zipper utilize the same lamination of heat sealable PE to polyester.
3. Pre made sideweld bags or stand-up pouches
By collaborating with our specialized customers, we can help you put together the entire structure using the least amount of PE sealant layer for lowest cost.