Oxygen Absorbers

Hi all,

The company I work for is in the R&D phase of a possible co-packing relationship. We are looking at using oxygen absorbers in small single-serve packs of food. (the company we would be co-packing Everywhere I have read, I see they need to be used or resealed in about 15 -30 min. I am wondering if you have any suggestions or information on how companies handle this window of time on a large manufacturing level. We have never used oxygen absorbers before, and this seems to be the last piece of the puzzle our R&D team is trying to work out. 

It seems there has to be a better way than our team opening oxygen absorber packs every 15 minutes down the line. 

Thank you for taking the time to read! 

-Abbi 

I'm not sure, but i would get in touch with the packing machine manufacturer, or contact a company about a beef jerky packing machine and ask this question.

You might find demonstration videos of packing machines online too.

There are both fast and slow acting oxygen absorbers, with slightly different chemistries.  The reality of their reactivity is a curve that is stretched more or less over time. 

We use some from Mitsubishi Chemical that will deplete the last bit of oxygen from a gas flushed package over the course of a few days -- reaching zero before the product leaves our custody.  Those rolls of absorbers are unsealed from a plastic bag and get used over the course of a few minutes to a couple hours, and retain enough of their capacity to get the job done even if we're well above our targets for headspace O2 concentration at pack time.

There is a bit of a balance between the oxygen concentration you will leave in the package when it is sealed, its headspace volume, and a few other factors.  You can probably talk with a consultant from the manufacturer to give you a better understanding of which capacity absorber will fit your needs.