Frozen Food / IQF
What is IQF?
IQF is an abbreviation for “individually quick frozen”, a process which freezes food rapidly so there is minimal 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 packages are then shipped to the supermarket freezer section.
Did you know? The inventor of IQF foods was Clarence Birdseye who discovered flash freezing while fishing. He developed the process in the 1920’s.
The hostile process places demands on the IQF frozen food film. The must-haves are:
1. 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 622 and IQF grades are 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.
2. Sealant layer of lamination usually to polyester outer layer ( best choice for outer layer ), 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 LDPE to polyester.
3. Pre made bags or stand-up pouches
