Temperature retention effectiveness of three packaging materials for selected hot food products.

摘要

Carryout food purchases are continuously increasing. The safety and quality of carryout foods partly depends on the packaging. A good package must be able to retain hot and cold food temperatures. The purpose of the study was to compare the temperature retention of four different kinds of packaging materials for a variety of hot food products. The selected hot foods; chicken and vegetable soup, shells and cheese, refried beans, rice and chicken strips, were heated to an internal temperature of 160 °F and placed in polystyrene foam, cardboard and polystyrene plastic packages. Temperatures of the foods were measured after 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes in three trials. Among the three types of packaging, polystyrene foam was most effective in retaining the temperature of the food, while polystyrene plastic was least effective. However, none of the three types of packaging was able to hold the selected hot foods at 135 °F or above for the ideal one hour period. Temperature retention was highest for soup and lowest for chicken strips indicating that food moisture content and viscosity affect the rate of temperature change. Based on this study, there exists a need for development of better packaging materials for the food service industry.