Sirane packaging film

11 extra days shelf life for mushrooms

UK company Sirane has added 11 days additional in-store shelf-life to mushrooms.

Mushrooms packed with Sira-Flex™ Resolve® – Sirane’s new range of shelf-life extending bags and films – showed no browning and no condensation following the trials.

The mushrooms were packed in standard expanded polystyrene trays (EPS) which were then stretch-wrapped in Sira-Flex™ Resolve® film using an Omori machine.

Jeremy Haydn-Davies, Sirane sales director, said: “This is once again further testament to the unique properties of Sira-Flex™ Resolve®, and results like this keep coming in. These are the most impressive yet with mushrooms, and are tremendously exciting.

“The company in question, a large overseas customer, achieved an additional 11 days on what they had been achieving in store with their current packaging solution.
“We know Sira-Flex™ Resolve® has some remarkable properties, and we’ve had people running trials around the world, many of whom are now starting to share their results.

“Supermarket shelves are often full of discounted mushrooms, which are turning brown. Trials show Sira-Flex™ Resolve® can help retailers keep their mushrooms fresher for longer.

“With so many retailers having recently signed up to the Courtauld 3 Commitment – pledging to significantly reduce food waste – this could be good news all round.”

Sirane’s Sira-Flex™ Resolve® is a unique film which has been developed to have the optimum balance between humidity control and O2 and CO2 permeability. The permeability is temperature dependant so that the perfect atmosphere is maintained inside the pack even if the storage temperature is variable.

Simon Balderson, Sirane’s managing director, said: “The results are remarkable. There is no condensation on the inside of the film and the product does not dry out.

“The package atmosphere is maintained with the optimum balance of atmospheric gases to prevent degradation. In simple terms, the food lasts longer. Shelf life extension of several days and more is achieved for many products. The film is suitable for all types of vegetables including salads as well as many types of fresh fruit.”

The film is a natural bio-polymer made from plants. It is sustainable and fully compostable. The permeability is controlled by the property of the film itself. Due to the unique structure of the film material, the permeability to humidity, O2 and CO2 is different in each case. This has allowed Sirane’s team of scientists to balance the permeability of each component to achieve the optimum result.
Earlier trials have shown very positive results with many other types of fresh produce.

Very positive findings have also been reported in strawberries, green beans, salads and potatoes. Mr Haydn-Davies added: “We try to avoid making claims that Sira-Flex™ Resolve® will achieve a particular level of shelf-life, as there are so many factors at play.

For more information:
Mark Lingard
Sirane Ltd.
Tel: +44 1952 230055
Email: mark.lingard@sirane.com
www.sirane.com

Publication date: Wed 4 Dec 2013