Nitrogen in Food Packaging

Nitrogen can be found in a wide range of applications in day-to-day life, such as anaesthesia, fertilisers, and even in the aurora borealis! On a smaller scale than the northern lights, nitrogen is commonly used for food and wine preservation.

The main role of nitrogen is to prevent oxygen from starting the oxidation process, which makes food turn stale and go bad. Nitrogen is a dry, inert, and clean gas, ideal for use with a wide variety of food and beverages.

 

Freezing

Although used in liquid form, nitrogen can be utilised to freeze food quickly. As it as extremely cold temperatures, liquid nitrogen freezes food in minutes. This allows for small ice crystals to form, which ensures longer quality and product moisture.

Liquid nitrogen can also be used to remove heat from a variety of processes, helping to prevent microbial growth, increase the throughput of production, and reduce cycle times.

 

Packaging

In gas form, nitrogen is utilised during food packaging. One process used by factories is purging, in which oxygen is displaced from a container. This is done before the packaging is sealed, ensuring that no oxygen is present and that food is preserved fresh for longer, has longer shelf life, and better taste.

Padding the contents of packaging is another way nitrogen is used. This prevents the packing from both collapsing and damaging the food inside. An example of this is bags of crisps, in which nitrogen helps to maintain the levels of pressure needed and to keep the crisps from breaking during transport.

 

Bottling Wine

Nitrogen is a displacement gas, which helps in wine bottling processes. There are sparging and blanketing processes in which very fine gas bubbles are introduced to remove dissolved oxygen, and to maintain a nitrogen gas layer to minimise the wine’s contact with air.

Microorganism growth on the wine’s surface and high levels of oxygen don’t make for a nice wine, and nitrogen is introduced before bottling. With extremely low solubility in wine, nitrogen is the perfect gas to ensure oxygen levels are below 0.5 per cent in wine.

 

As it also available at affordable prices, this gas is convenient for use by wine makers. The food packing industry makes use of nitrogen gas to ensure that food lasts longer on the shelf, which allows for consumers to buy fresh food all years around.

 

Here at Adams Gas, we have high-quality nitrogen gas bottles for all of your requirements. Simply get in touch with our friendly team to know more about how we can help you to use nitrogen gas for your food or beverage needs.