How to Choose Suitable Food Tin Containers for Food Packaging?
Do you know that in 2017 an American consumer was doing 1.5 grocery shopping visits approximately in one week?
We mostly see taste and price while buying a food product, but we should also consider the food packaging and its benefits irrespective of their shopping frequency.
Food tin cans are considered perfect for wrapping food because it increases their life and protects it from spoiling while keeping the nutritional value intact.
Food tin cans are safe for packing food, facilitate high-speed filling, and are easily transportable even for huge distances.
Food tin can packaging is the real reason behind the supply of edible food to us. It safeguards food from various degrading factors due to its sturdy and durable nature.
Food tin packaging is a great way to facilitate the transportation of food and increase its shelf life.
The shelf indicates the protection of food to keep it eligible to eat for a longer duration.
Food tin can get degraded if it comes in contact with oxygen, making airtight packaging essential, while some food can get spoiled on exposure to moisture.
Food packaging also prevents the growth of unhealthy microorganisms that may induce sickness; of course, you don’t want to get ill because of your food.
What is A Food Tin?
The most common material that is being used for food packaging is tinplate. It is a sheet-like structure or a light gauge covered with pure tin on all surfaces.
It is a prevalent form of food packaging used for centuries.
You can easily get canned food in the supermarket, which also helps provide food products like vegetables or fruits throughout the year.
When you go shopping then, be mindful of looking at the expiring date of the food.
Also, food cans covered in dust signal the old stock that might be expired. When buying canned food, be mindful of using the older ones first and then switching to newer ones.
You can achieve it by keeping the new cans behind the older food tin cans.
What’s The History of Food Tin?
Western civilization is the main arena that describes the chronicles of food tin and how it brought wealth to the US.
When the world powers were going on quests worldwide, traveling long distances, which were nearly about 200 years ago at that time, food tin came into existence.
They were the opening for massive commercial activities and broader frontiers in America.
This can make more than $15.7 billion in revenue part of the economy. Estimating, Americans use over 130 billion cans annually.
The can-making industry employs approximately 28,000 workers while having production units in 33 states, Puerto Rico and American Samoa.
They can proffer the best option for food packaging. As consumer demands have changed, they have also evolved their features.
From adapting to newer features to maintaining its crux features of durability and protection, they can have changed from primitive, crude tinplate cans made by hand to recyclable and zero waste-producing cans.
The evolved cans are lightweight and can be produced easily by mechanical means.
Food helps us savor the food products made somewhere else, which we would have never tasted otherwise. They bring different food products to our plates.
You can also eat food products that are only seasonal or maybe not grown and produced in the region you live in, but food makes it possible to taste such delicious food without missing out on it.
Supplying food for the soldiers, keeping the food safe at home, transporting the food to third-world countries, etc., is possible due to food tins.
Tins are used in almost every possible place because they facilitate and support ease of living. That’s why we are called a ‘tin can civilization.’
Tins have played a significant role in our lives in enhancing living standards. Making the things we use gradually more accessible and feasible is a huge need for increasing the living standard, which food tin has greatly supported.
We can eat healthy food as it is feasible and easily accessible.
It has enhanced our life expectancy along with productivity. The ease has also provided us with more leisure time.
Continuous research and evolution work in the industry ensure that cans will fulfill our requirements and facilitate our lives in the future too.
William Charles Ball and his brothers in the 1800s tried their luck in the food preservation jar business. They started taking over smaller companies and soon touched the industry’s heights.
In 1903, an innovation was made by Alexander Kerr made an easy-to-fill wide-mouth canning jar. Later Ball brothers also copied their designs.
After that, in 1915, Kerr came up with associating a metal lid and gasket, which Julius Landsberger made.
After that, Kerr attached a metal disk and similar gasket, which was kept intact by a metal ring, and then a 2-piece canning lid came into existence that we use now.
Canning technology is continuously under evolution. Some brands, such as Quattro Stagioni, utilize one-piece canning lids.
These are also quite similar to the previous 2-piece canning lids.
What are the packaging materials used for food?
Various materials, like paper, glass, plastic, etc., can be used for packaging materials. Sometimes they are used in combinations in a fixed ratio.
For some specific food products, some materials are more suitable, so they are preferred. Let’s talk about some basic materials;
Glass dates back to its existence around 5000 years ago. It is recyclable and can be reused again.
As glass contains inert properties, which makes it resistant to reacting with other materials, this property helps prevent the growth of microorganisms.
Sterilization of Glass is also possible. The con of glass containers can be that they are heavy and easily breakable.
Even after all the food products you get in glass jars, they make up only 10% of the food packaging industry.
Metals
Metal packaging of food dates back to the 1900s. Metals like aluminum, tin-free steel, etc., have been used for food packaging for so long.
Metals provide a strong barrier and offer heat treatment and sterile sealing properties. Aluminum foil is used for making soft drink cans that are light as well as smooth-looking.
On the other hand, a tinplate provides strength and is suitable for storing drinks, foods, aerosols, etc.
The strongest material is tin-free steel, suitable for making bottle caps and large drums if we talk about the strongest material.
But in some cases, there are chances that the tiny tin particles may release into the mood from the can, though they are not harmful.
To avoid this, the inside of cans is coated with sealers. Welding can not be done on aluminum, so it can only be used as seamless containers, as it is also expensive.
It is important to coat the tin-free steel as it is prone to corrosion. Like glass, the metal share is only 10% in the food packaging industry.
Paper and paperboard
Paper packaging roots its existence in the 1600s. Paper has limited barrier features. That’s why to utilize it as a food container. It is essential to process it with wax or resin.
For example, kraft and parchment paper are processed to become capable of opposing water and oil. They share 35% of the food packaging industry.
Why do you need Food Tin?
Food packaging is important to keep the food safe and intact. In a market where several brands are available for the same product, food packaging provides a way to differentiate the brand.
How else do you think your customers will recognize your brand without its specific packaging? Food packaging helps in preventing the degradation of food from microorganisms. It also helps to maintain the shelf-life of the food.
How Can Food Tin Protect Food?
The principle of food tin can is to kill microorganisms present in food and maintain new microorganisms away.
Food is secured in the canister and warmed to a temperature that damages hazardous microorganisms and any spores that might grow in the container.
As long as the canister remains sealed, the food is maintained, as microorganisms can not reach the food.
What’s the procedure for packaging food with food Tin?
Initial prep work differs depending on the food being tinned. Vegetables, as well as fruit, may be peeled off as well as cut, or just washed whole.
Many veggies are first paled at a temperature below boiling point to ruin enzymes that might discolor the food or provide off-flavor.
Food tin cans are usually filled with food in a continual assembly line. Depending on the food, the tin can might be topped up with juice, syrup, sauce, or salt water, leaving a small headspace to allow for development.
The lid is secured onto the can, and the components are prepared.
Normally, food tin manufacturers favor using a reduced temperature level and a much shorter processing time to keep the structure and consume top-quality food, so a great deal of job has been done to figure out optimal problems for the canning of various foods.
The food preparation temperature required varies with the acidity of the food being tinned. The spores of Clostridium botulinum, which creates botulism, can not grow in acidic conditions, so fruit and tomatoes, which are acidic, can be refined at lower temperature levels than veggies or meat.
Processing to kill Clostridium botulinum spores will certainly eliminate all other microorganisms that can hurt us.
What Are The Advantages of Food Tin?
Increased Shelf Life
Tin helps increase the shelf life more than other options like aluminum and steel because of the non-reacting material of the tin. Steel and aluminum food tin are more likely to erode the food because of their acidity content.
They can even completely spoil the food. That’s why the containers used for pharmaceutical purposes or storage of food and drinks don’t use anything other than tin.
Food tin helps keep the food good and maintains its quality for longer.
Easy to Handle (Lightweight)
Weight is an important factor regarding the transportation of food tins.
As we know, food tins are very lightweight, providing an advantage for moving food tins and food products stored in them long distances.
Transportation fee is often charged according to the product’s weight, so tins also provide an extra advantage by saving extra transportation costs.
So if you want to reduce your transportation cost, then the tin is a great option. They provide a good alternative for saving transportation fees and making it easier.
Strong and Rigid
Because of their strength and flexibility, the food tin cans provide a wide range of flexibility for food packaging. They also keep their shape intact for various impacts and forces.
You can choose tin for your food product packaging if you want to get the advantage of its resistance towards force and low cost to increase your return.
If you choose a container, then you get to choose from a variety of transport options also.
You can choose which fits your requirements best. It also ensures that the product reaching your end consumer is safe and in good condition.
Flexible Packaging
You can consider it the best property of tin packaging.
Food tin material is very flexible and proffers high tensile properties and rigidity, facilitating good packaging flexibility.
You can easily carry or transport them without damaging their condition. This is a tremendous advantage as other cans are more likely to get deformed.
What Are The Types of Food Tins?
In addition to sizing, you must recognize how the food tin cans containers you purchase are generated.
From a manufacturing viewpoint, food tin cans can be combined from two or three pieces of metal. They are categorized as either made from lightweight aluminum or steel, relying on the can-body product.
Two-piece steel food tin containers
Two-piece steel food tin containers consist of:
1. a body incorporated with a bottom lid and also
2. a cover with a lip
These cans are used as an attracting process, in which a coil of covered rolled steel or lightweight aluminum is fed into a press and formed into a mug form things, total with a level, round base, and cylindrical sidewalls.
The cups then undergo one more attracting stage (the revise) to achieve the final shape (DRD, draw as well as revise canisters), or they might go through a wall ironing phase (DWI, draw and also wall ironing canisters), which causes the mug walls being stretched and also ironed to a fixed height.
Despite the can being redrawn or ironed, the final action is to cut the cup into an ended-up container before filling and sealing on the top cover using “dual seaming.”
Three-piece metal food cans
Three-piece metal food tin cans attribute:
1. a bottom lid,
2. a cylindrical body, as well as
3. a leading cover
These food cans are made with a rectangle-shaped, flat sheet of food-grade steel formed right into a cylindrical tube and closed with a vertical side joint.
The bottom end is connected using “dual seaming” to develop an airtight seal. Once filled, the can is secured closed on top with a similar seal to the bottom.
Depending upon the manufacturer, three-piece canisters can be set up using soldering or welding.
What’re The Dimensions of a Food Tin Can?
Many dishes will certainly specify a food tin can size instead of a volume quantity.
Recognizing the dimensions and capacities of the most common food cans on the marketplace is important when preparing dishes in the food service sector: dining establishments, lunchrooms, daycare centers, and much more rely on canned items as a quick, cost-effective way to serve their patrons.
In the United States, steel food tin cans are gauged before seaming on the packers’ end.
These dimensions are nominal, and while they may be expressed in inches, the custom-made method uses a conventionalized method in which three-digit numbers express each dimension.
The initial digit suggests the variety of entire inches in measurement, and the second and third figures suggest the fractional inches as sixteenths of an inch.
The very first three-digit number suggests the diameter gauged across the outside of the chime on the seamed end. The second three-digit number indicates the total elevation of the container.
303 x 406 methods 3 3/16 x 4 6/16 inches
307 x 512 methods 3 7/16 x 5 12/16 inches
603 x 700 methods 6 3/16 x 7 inches
This chart below also offers a valuable failure of the different size numbers in weight or cup dimensions.
Please note that the ounces in this graph refer to what remains in the canister, not product returns from using the can.
A few of these sizes can also differ by a few ounces depending on the specific item you acquire, so constantly review the label very closely.
How to choose Food Tin?
United States Food Administration has set some safety standards which need to be fulfilled to ensure the quality of metal can packaging.
There is also a test called the N71 test, which ensures that it is safe for children. Even if a child puts a tin horse into the mouth, it will not cause any harm.
Food tin material comes in direct contact with the food, which increases the demand for hygiene and safety.
Tin offers budget-friendly low manufacturing and production prices, which is its greatest advantage. As automation increases, the tin’s space cost will also be decreased.
Tin is also environmentally friendly as it can be reused and recycled easily. It helps in minimizing waste production. Iron is recyclable and reusable, which reduces the generation of waste.
Food in packaging is an option for easy storage needs. It proffers resistance against outside invasion loss, a very in-demand factor of the packaging industry nowadays.
Try to Custom Food Tin For Your Business
Large brands use tin packaging to highlight their important features, too. There are various examples of it, like launching a new product in a limited edition or giving collectible tins, etc.,
Suppose you want to purchase customized food tins of metal. You can easily buy them from any US producer who offers on-time delivery service, top-notch quality, and the best safeguarding properties.
Every second matters when trying to get a potential buyer’s attention. A tin with bright colors and graphics is a great way to attract customers.
An opulent design of customized cookie tin gives assurance of quality to the customer, and its collectivity supports the sale and customer satisfaction of the frequent buyers.
Decorative and customized tins provide an amazing opportunity to make a different brand value than its competitors.
Custom specialty metal packaging provides a unique appearance and essence to the brand, delighting the customer and enhancing its value.
Collectible anniversary tins don’t just catch the buyer’s attention but also help in endorsing your brand even after the purchase. People also like to keep such tins in homes or offices.
You can get specific prints or designs printed on the food tins by custom printing facilities, which helps get a buyer’s attention.
You can also get different textures, like gloss, matte, etc., to make it look more appealing.
Tins are very sustainable options as they don’t need foil or lamination. Food tins have a reflecting effect that can make their appearance look interesting using transparent or coatings.
You can also try printing a logo on the food, making it look high-end.
How long do canned foods remain edible?
Most canned foods come with a long shelf-life, but still, you should use them as early as possible. Keeping them for years isn’t a good trait.
Food containing high acid, like tomatoes, juice, pickles, etc., can be kept for 12 to 18 months, while low-acid food products like meat and vegetables can sustain up to 2 to 4 years. But such long periods can affect their quality and texture.
Where should you store canned foods?
If you are thinking of the best place to keep your food tins, then a place with no moisture and a normal low temperature is ideal.
Keeping them in a warm place or exposing them to sunlight should be avoided. Keep the food tins dry and cool, avoiding rusting of the can. The rusting of the can may cause leaks or degrade the food kept inside it.
Can canned food be heated in its container?
Heating the food directly in the can is not advisable. If you want to heat the food while still in the tin can, separate the lid to avoid any pressure build-up.
You can use aluminum foil to drape the open lid lightly and then put it in hot water. The can will start simmering, and always be mindful of not putting the food tin can in the microwave to heat.
What should you do if the can looks damaged?
There are a few signs that your food is not fit for eating. When you open the can, try to examine it properly.
If the lid of the can is bulging out or leaking from somewhere, then the food might be spoiled. Spurting liquid and weird smell from the food or mold also suggest degradation of food.
If the food is degraded, don’t use it as it is not fit for consumption anymore. Also, never taste the tin food to check if it’s spoiled.
Will foods that use food tin packaging lose their nutrition?
Like any handling, some vitamins and minerals are lost throughout the canning of foods. Vitamin C and thiamin (vitamin B1) are warm and delicate, and food tin can has been shown to ruin a varying quantity of these vitamins in vegetables and fruits.
The B vitamins are water-soluble, and a differing proportion of these can be liquified into the canning liquid, which we frequently do not utilize when we open the canister.
When tinned, the remaining vitamins are well retained during storage as the container prevents oxygen from reaching the food, which safeguards the vitamins from destruction through oxidation.
How tinned food compares nutritionally to fresh or frozen food depends on the individual food and how long it has been kept.
How to determine the possible deterioration of tin-filled food
While it is lawful for supermarkets to offer dented containers, and the food within may be just fine, it’s an excellent suggestion to prevent dented containers, particularly if we are likely to maintain the can for a long time.
Unless the can is perforated or pierced, or the seals are damaged, the components of the can are probably ALRIGHT, but we can’t truly recognize them.
If containers in the house have corrosion, protruding, or dents, it’s finest to get rid of them and not eat the food inside. Rust can gnaw at the canister and create holes, allowing air and triggering food putridity.
A bulging can is triggered by gas produced as bacteria feed upon the food and is a sure sign that the food within is spoiled. Any structural damage to the can, such as a dent, may have harmed the internal lining of the can, enabling bacteria and air to go into and spoil the food.
If the food has foul smells or off colors when you open a can, do not eat it. Foods with an unusual odor ought not to also be tasted.
Conclusion
These packaging designs can be reused, increasing efficiency and decreasing container prices. They can be refilled easily, too.
Intense research is going on to increase the efficiency of the food in containers in terms of making the resistance to temperature, contacting timing, etc.
It also focuses on making the containers reusable and resistant to chemicals.
