Freezer storage bag

Details Freezer storage bag Freezer storage bag

1997-05-12

2003-04-22

Nolan, Sandra M. (Department: 1772)

Flexible bags

With venting or ventilation means

Opening in bag material

C383S100000, C383S109000, C383S119000, C426S127000, C426S129000, C426S415000, C426S418000, C428S035200, C428S035300, C428S035700, C428S156000, C428S216000, C428S220000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06550966

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND
This invention primarily concerns the packaging of food, particularly meat but is applicable to packaging other articles or items. The invention was made during attempts to make improved “freezer bags” for repackaging and freezer storing uncooked red meat by the “consumer” in a manner that reduces so called “freezer burn”. However, various aspects of the invention also apply to the “commercial” packaging or repackaging of food, such as by a supermarket or by butchers at a slaughterhouse. Other aspects of the invention include methods for preparing the improved freezer bags; methods for using the bags; the packages of meat; and certain types of thermoplastic film being particularly suitable for use as meat-contacting packaging material.
Reclosable Plastic Storage bags are extremely old in the art. Today, plastic bags are typically available to the public in cartons identified for specific recommended “end use” (such as Storage Bags, Heavy Duty Freezer Bags, Vegetable Bags, Trash Bags). Often the bag itself is labeled by “end use”, for example, “ZIPLOC® BRAND Heavy Duty Freezer Bags”.
The term “Freezer Bag” is hereby defined as a bag having significant functional utility in the storage of food in a freezer. “Freezer Bags” are typically available in the following sizes: 2 gallon (7.6 L); 1 (3.8 L) gallon; pleated ½ gallon (1.9 L); quart (0.9 L); and pint (0.5 L).
The term “Freezer Burn” is hereby defined as the name for the dehydration that occurs when unpackaged or improperly packaged food is stored in the low humidity atmosphere of a freezer (see “Packaging Foods With Plastics”, by Wilmer A. Jenkins and James P. Harrington, published in 1991 by Technomic Publishing Co., Inc., at page 305).
Freezer burn has remained a major complaint among consumers despite the commercial success of thick plastic freezer bags. In the short-term, freezer burn can be a reversible process. In the long-term, however, freezer burn causes a complex deterioration of food quality involving undesirable texture changes followed by chemical changes such as degradation of pigments and oxidative rancidity of lipids. Taste, aroma, mouth feel and color can all be ruined. Freezer burn of raw red meat is particularly critical because of its impact upon the color of the meat.
Aforementioned “Packaging Foods With Plastics” provides an excellent state of the art summary, with all the information on (commercial) “packaging fresh red meat collected in Chapter Seven”. Curiously, the book does not appear to mention freezer burn, apart from defining it in the glossary.
“Keeping Food Fresh” is the title of an article in “Consumer Reports”, for March, 1994, at pages 143-147. The article is too recent to be available as prior art to the extent that this application designates the United States. Nevertheless its contents are of interest in showing the absence of certain types of prior art, and therefore enhancing the patentability of the present invention.
The “Consumer Reports” article attempts to answer the question as to which packaging material (plastic, aluminum, waxed paper, bags, wraps or reusable containers) do the best job of (1) keeping food fresh for “the long haul”, (2) at lowest overall cost, and (3) with minimum adverse environmental impact. It “top rates” ZIPLOC® Pleated Freezer Bags (at page 145). It points out that food stored in plastic containers can suffer from freezer burn if the container contains too much air. Concerning “wraps” (plastic films and freezer papers) it advised against double wrapping because of cost and environmental reasons and “our tests showed that double wrapping doesn't afford much extra protection anyway”. Nowhere does the article disclose or suggest the invention described hereinafter.
The patent literature contains descriptions of various types of bags having liners or double walls including some space between the walls. Some of these patents relate to the transportation and storage of food. U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,091 (Campbell) concerns an “Insulated Lunch Bag”. U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,267 (Skovgaard) describes a “Carrying Bag” for “getting home with frozen food before it thaws”. U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,010 (assigned to Nabisco Brands) discloses a duplex paper bag as a “reheatable, resealable package for fried food”. U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,466 (assigned to The Dow Chemical Company) relates to an improved “Freezer To Microwave Oven Bag”. The bag is formed of two wing shaped pouches on each side of an upright spout. U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,679 (Hjelle) concerns “Tote Bags Equipped With A Cooling Chamber”. All of these food bags appear to have very thick food contacting walls compared to the invention described hereinafter. None of these patents appear to focus on freezer burn.
Books on “Home Freezing” are of interest to this invention. Concerning “Wrapping Meat for the Freezer”, the book “Rodale's Complete Book of Home Freezing” by Marilyn Hodges and the Rodale Test Kitchen staff (1984) suggested the inconvenient method of wrapping meat chunks in a single layer of freezer paper and “sucking out the air with a straw” (trying to avoid getting blood into ones mouth) in order to reduce the amount of dehydration in the freezer (see page 173).
There is clearly still a great need to improve existing methods of packaging fresh meat, as determined by consumer surveys, coupled with the fact that there is a 45 billion dollar retail market in the U.S. alone, consuming about 225 million dollars worth of plastic packaging materials annually.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In contrast to the known prior art, it has now been surprisingly discovered that certain types of multiple walled plastic bags (defined herein as “multibags”) are better than corresponding single wall freezer bags (having equal or greater weight than the multiple walled bags) for use as a functional freezer bag for preserving red meat without freezer burn. All of the independent claims hereinafter concern different but related broad aspects of the invention, and are hereby incorporated by reference.


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