FR2736037A1 - PROCESS FOR THE INDUSTRIAL PACKAGING OF AT LEAST TWO FOOD PRODUCTS OR GROUPS OF PRODUCTS OF WHICH AT LEAST ONE IS A PLANT, PACKAGING THEREFOR AND PRODUCTS SO CONDITIONED - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a process for the industrial packaging of at least two food products or group of food products of which at least one is a plant, the packaging for this purpose and the products thus packaged. Said method according to the invention is essentially characterized in that: each product or group of products is prepared by respecting its own storage conditions on a specific chain and is packaged in a specific container sealed in a hermetic manner; - Said receptacles are brought together in a complementary manner as to their content by forming a single packaging, each of the receptacles of which can be opened in order to pool the products with a view to their mixing and consumption, the receptacles constituting the packaging being provided with means of 'association between them to facilitate said mixing, for example by stirring.

Description

The present invention relates to an industrial packaging process

  for the preservation of at least two food products or groups of products

  at least one is a raw or cooked vegetable.

  The present invention also relates to the packaging used for the implementation of the object process

  of the invention and the final product obtained.

  The field of the present invention is that of the food products known as the fourth range for one part, and cooked dishes refrigerated for another part, ie delivered ready for use and more

  especially salads with their ingredients.

  Salad means any combination of raw or cooked vegetable products and ingredients, all food products that can be consumed with said salad, including condiments. The consumption of salads has become a food habit. The evolution of tastes, the more and more current need to eat light and balanced, the growing demand for fresh and natural products and finally the very short time devoted to meals, make the salad with some ingredients, more and more. more often the main meals, including midday meals and during the season

hot.

  To save consumers the work and the time required to prepare them, it is proposed to

  fourth-class or ready-to-eat vegetable products.

  1 At the time required for the preparation of the vegetables constituting the salad, the time of

preparation of ingredients.

  To avoid this waste of time, it is proposed on the market products consisting of a mixture of

  salad as defined in the head and its ingredients.

  The direct contact of the salad and its ingredients causes physical degradations (crushing, etc.) and organoleptic (discoloration, etc ...) of the different products that make these fabrications can only be done so artisanal and very shortly before consumption or in an industrial way, but in conditions that do not ensure good

product preservation.

  In addition, there is a conservation problem in these fabrications since two families of food products with different characteristics are combined: - Ready-to-use vegetable products that are living products, sorted and washed respecting the cold chain (positive cold about 2 to 4) and still contain a microbial flora that can not develop properly because a living product is not the best substrate for this purpose; food products, essentially sterilized, pasteurized or treated in such a way that they have a very small microbial flora and which constitute a substrate of choice for the development of contaminating substances. 1 Each of the product families has its own conservation conditions that are not

necessarily compatible.

  The contacting of products from different families imposes a compromise that consists of adapting the shortest shelf life for the entire product, which does not exclude the migration of microorganisms present from the plants to the ingredients with increased

  risks of microbiological contamination.

  The present invention aims to overcome these disadvantages by a method and packaging means capable of producing an industrial production of the order of "x" thousands of units per day which have all the conservation guarantees mentioned above for a period of time. normal products of the fourth range which is

of "z" days.

  Another object of the invention is to produce a package which makes it possible to eliminate all handling of the food products before consumption, either by the

  consumer, either by the service staff.

  For this purpose, the process according to the invention for industrial packaging of at least two food products or group of food products of which at least one is a vegetable is essentially characterized in that: - each product or group of products is prepared individually while respecting its own conditions of preservation on a specific chain and is conditioned on said chain in a specific container closed hermetically and reversibly; - said containers are complementarily matched to their content after filling into a package, each of which can be opened to collect the products for their mixing and consumption, the containers constituting the packaging being provided with their own means or reported association between them. According to another characteristic of the invention, the packaging is characterized in that it consists of at least two containers which can be sealed independently of each other and which are complementary so that they can be paired together.

  unique packaging for storage and preservation.

  According to yet another characteristic of the invention, each of the two containers has an opening provided with a peripheral rim having a flat surface to allow the attachment of a sheet or wall of capping, one of the two containers forming a lid

  on the other and said planar surfaces being superposable.

  Other advantages and features of

  the invention will appear on reading the description below.

  after one embodiment of the invention given by way of non-limiting example and illustrated by the accompanying drawings in which: - Figure 1 is a partial cutaway view of a package embodying the invention; - Figure 2 is a partial top view of the package according to Figure 1; Figures 3, 4 and 5 show another embodiment of the invention; - Figure 6 is a partial cutaway view of another

  embodiment of the invention.

  The process for the industrial packaging of at least two products or groups of food products of which at least one is a plant consists in preparing and conditioning each of the products or group of products independently of the other, while respecting its own constraints and conditioning preparation conditions.

  and packaging on a specific industrial chain.

  Thus, in the case of preparation of salads, for example lettuce, a specific chain is according to

  process of the invention assigned to its preparation.

  This chain may include sorting, cutting, washing, spinning, weighing and packing stations and respecting the sanitary conditions imposed for obtaining a living product fit for human consumption. This chain is under positive cold for example

  between 2 to 4 degrees centigrade.

  This chain has a packing station equipped with

  lidding of the container used.

  This lidding operation can be done under appropriate atmosphere to create in the container the conditions

  aerated gases most favorable to conservation.

  The ingredients that can be cooked or raw are treated on a specific chain with respect for the 1 imposed sanitary conditions (positive cold between

at 3).

  The chain includes, for example, weighing and packing stations with lidding and placing in an appropriate atmosphere if necessary. According to the method, the containers are then combined and paired in a complementary manner, for example a salad and a filling, forming a single package, each of which can be opened to pool the products for mixing and consumption. . Advantageously, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, each container having its aperture separately sealed has its own atmosphere.

waterproof.

  Preferably, use is made of two hollow containers of complementary shapes, one of which may constitute the lid of the other and whose peripheral walls at their opening may be stacked placed in the extension.

one from the other.

  According to the invention, each of the containers has an opening provided with a flange having a flat surface for fixing by any known technique of the lid and serving as a bearing surface for the other container, the surfaces of the lids one on the other. As shown in FIG. 1, the package according to the invention comprises a hollow container 1 receiving the vegetable 1 and a hollow container 3 receiving the ingredients 4

of filling.

  The opening of the container 1 and that of the container 3 have the same dimensions and their walls in the vicinity of said opening are in the extension of one another

during their superposition.

  This superposition is preferably carried out according to the invention by inverting one of the containers, in this case the container 3, on the other, in this case the

  container 1, to which it serves as a lid.

  The containers are sized according to the

  quantities and volumes of the products they receive.

  The container 1 receiving the plant is larger than the container 3 which reviews the ingredients of

garnish.

  According to the invention, the periphery of the opening of each of the hollow containers has a flat wall 6, the so-called flat walls of two complementary containers being superposable.

  After filling any of the containers, this one

  it is closed hermetically but reversibly by a cover 7 which may be for example a sheet of heat-sealable synthetic material which is cut on the wall 6 by a matrix and which is welded by any known means on

said wall 6.

  Advantageously, the containers 1, 3 and the lids 7 are made of one or more synthetic materials with suitable and transparent characteristics.

1 to make the content visible.

  After fitting the containers one on the other or during this apparatus, they are fixed to each other, either by their own means or by reported means. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, these means consist of a strapping band 8 of all suitable materials, cardboard, paper, etc. which, as shown, can be provided with windows 9 receiving

  protruding parts 10 or ears of said packages.

  The products thus packaged, each in the specific enclosure of its container, can be brought into contact byoperculage said containers and recovery of one on the other without the user has to handle the

food.

  The exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated by FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 shows a package according to the invention which has all the characteristics of the previous one, in particular the peripheral flat surface 6 of the opening of each of the hollow containers which allows the

  cutting and fixing of the lid 7.

  Advantageously, the rim of the container 1 has an annular rib 11 (FIG. 4) and the periphery of the container 3 has a deformable vertical annular wall 12 and an inwardly oriented annular bead 13 provided with an

flat surface 7.

  After filling and lidding, the containers 1

  and 3 according to this embodiment are stackable.

  1 As shown in Figures 3/4, the caps 7 of each of them are superimposed and their wall 7 plane coming on one another. The wall 7 of the container 3 is shifted outwardly with respect to the wall 7 of the lower container. After removing the lids, the bead 13 of the container 3 will be lodged by forcing under the rib

11 of the container 1.

  This provision of the invention of interlocking the containers one on the other allows their joining together, which protects food for example in the case where the consumption must be delayed and allows to stir

  packaging for example to mix the products.

  FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the invention of a package having all the characteristics already stated and in which the lid 7 of the container 3 forming a lid is fixed on a flat annular wall internal to the lid and no longer peripheral as in the other examples of realization

of the invention.

  As stated above, the internal volumes of the containers 1, 3 are adapted to the volume of the products they

must contain.

  The container 3 forming a lid, is of reduced depth so that the ingredients it contains are held in position by the lid, which allows a suitable arrangement thereof which can be found during their

  spill on the salad of the container 1.

  Advantageously, as shown in FIG. 7, the inner wall of the lid may be provided with ribs 14 arranged for example in concentric radii which allow

  putting the ingredients in place and maintaining them.

he

Claims (1)

1. A method of industrial packaging for the preservation of at least two food products or group of fresh food products of which at least one is a plant (2) raw or cooked, to be mixed at the time of consumption, said products or groups of products being respectively subject to different and / or incompatible constraints and storage conditions, characterized in that: - each product or group of products is individually prepared in accordance with its own conditions of preservation; - Vation on a specific chain and is packaged in a chamber (1), (3) specific hermetically sealed; - That said enclosures (1), (3) closed are combined in a single package comprising at least two complementary enclosures forming a preservation package, each of said enclosures can be opened to put the products in contact for their mixing and their conservation. 2. Packaging according to claim 1 for the packaging for preservation of at least two products or groups of fresh food products of which at least one is a raw or cooked plant, intended to be mixed at the time of their consumption, characterized in that it consists of two enclosures (1), (3) sealable independently of each other and complementary to be combined in a single package for storage and / or consumption.   3. Packaging according to claim 2 characterized in that each of the two containers has an opening provided with a peripheral rim (6) having a flat surface to allow the attachment of a sheet or wall of capping (7), l one of the two lid containers of the other and said planar surfaces being stackable.