FoodBags

Welcome to Discount Food Bags.Plastic packaging continues to have the wrap on consumer preference. Freshness, storage stability and ease of preparation are among the consumer goals driving the popularity of plastic food packaging.

We provide free and accurate information on types, sizes and gauges of food bags and other food service packaging. Learn everything you need about food bags or buy food bags at discounted prices from our recommended suppliers.

Food bags help keep our food fresh and safe, and protects against spoilage. Food packaging provides a hygienic and safe environment for foods and medicine by protecting against contamination while keeping foods fresh throughout use. Food bags allow packaging to perform many necessary tasks and provide properties including strength and stiffness, barrier to oxygen transmission and moisture, resistance to food component attack, and flexibility.

Background

Plastic wrap is a form of food packaging consisting of a thin film of flexible, transparent polymer that clings to itself and to food containers to form a tight seal. The plastic keeps the food fresh by protecting it from air and by preventing dry foods from absorbing moisture and wet foods from losing moisture. It also seals in odors to prevent them from spreading to other foods stored nearby.

Plastics are artificial polymers; that is, they consist of gigantic molecules formed by combining thousands of small molecules of the same kind into a long chain. These small molecules are known as monomers, and the process of combining them is known as polymerization. Natural polymers include such familiar substances as silk, rubber, and cotton.

The first plastic was made by the British chemist Alexander Parkes in 1862, who produced a substance he called Parkesine from cotton, nitric acid, sulfuric acid, castor oil, and camphor. Two years later in the United States John Wesley Hyatt improved this product and named it celluloid. Celluloid was a tremendous success and was used to make many different products, but it was highly flammable.

The first completely artificial polymer (unlike celluloid, which was a derivative of the natural polymer cellulose) was Bakelite, which was produced from phenol and formaldehyde by the Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland in 1908. Many other polymers were developed during the 20th century, including such important products as artificial rubber and artificial fibers such as nylon.

The first plastic used for wrapping was cellophane, another derivative of cellulose invented by the Swiss chemist Jacques Brandenberger in 1911. It had the advantage of being transparent, and was used for packaging as early as 1924. Cellophane was the most common form of plastic film made until 1963, when it was overtaken by polyethylene.

Polyethylene was discovered by accident by research workers at the British company Imperial Chemicals Industries in 1933, when they mixed benzene and ethylene at high temperature and pressure. Polyethylene was first used chiefly for electrical insulating material. It was first made into a film in 1945 by the Visking Corporation in the United States, and has grown in popularity ever since.

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was produced before World War II and was originally used as an inferior substitute for rubber, but films of this substance were not made in any quantity until the 1950s. PVC is used today in many different products such as pipes, flooring, electric cables, shoes, and clothing, as well as plastic wrap.

Polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) film was developed by the Dow Chemical Company during World War II for military use. It offered a high degree of protection from moisture and resistance to oils, greases, and corrosive chemicals, so it was used to package sensitive equipment such as optical devices and aircraft engine components. In 1952 it was offered to the public under the familiar trade name Saran Wrap.

Raw Materials

Most household plastic wrap is made from polyethylene, PVC, or PVDC. These polymers are all derived from simple hydrocarbons such as methane or ethylene, which are produced from natural gas or petroleum. Polyethylene is made directly from ethylene. PVC is made from vinyl chloride, derived from ethylene, or from acetylene, derived from methane. PVDC is made from vinyl chloride and vinylidene chloride, a derivative of 1,1,2-trichloroethane, which in turn is derived from ethylene or acetylene.

Some plastic films, including cellophane, are derived from cellulose, which is obtained from wood pulp or from linters, tiny fibers that cling to cotton seeds after the longer cotton fibers have been removed by a cotton gin. At least one form of plastic film (Pliofilm, a trademark of Goodyear) is derived from rubber.

The Manufacturing Process

• Processing the raw materials
• The chemicals needed to synthesize polymers are usually obtained from petroleum. Crude oil is heated in a furnace to about 752'F (400'C). Vapors from the oil move into a fractionating column, a tall tower containing a series of chambers. The chambers are warmer at the bottom of the tower and cooler at the top. The various substances that make up petroleum rise through the chambers as gases until they reach the temperature at which they become liquids. Since each substance has a different boiling point, they liquefy in different chambers and can be separated and collected.
• Most polymers begin with very simple hydrocarbons that have low boiling points. These substances do not liquefy in the fractionating column, but instead remain in the form of gases which can be removed from the top of the tower. They may also be obtained from natural gas, which is mostly methane. Another source for these chemicals is naphtha, a mixture of liquid hydrocarbons, obtained from a fractionating column, which are heavier than gasoline but lighter than heavy oil. Naphtha is heated under pressure to break down the liquid hydrocarbons into smaller molecules, a process known as cracking. A catalyst is added to enable cracking to take place at a lower temperature and pressure than it would without it. The catalyst may be a natural or artificial clay (a mixture of alumina and silica or a zeolite (any of various minerals containing aluminum, silicon, oxygen, and other elements in combination with water.) Catalytic cracking usually takes place at a temperature of about 932'F (500'C) under a pressure of about 100 kilo-pascals. The cracked naphtha is then distilled in a manner similar to that in a fractionating column to separate its components.


• Polymerization
• Polyethylene is polymerized from ethylene, which is obtained from cracking. Ethylene is heated in a pressure chamber to about 338'F (170'C) at a pressure of about 200,000 kilopascals in the presence of a small amount of oxygen. The oxygen breaks the ethylene down into free radicals, which combine with each other to form chains of polyethylene. About one percent of a nonreacting gas such as propane is added to prevent the chains from becoming too long.
• PVC is polymerized from vinyl chloride, which can be obtained either by mixing acetylene with hydrochloric acid or ethylene with chlorine. Ethylene is more commonly used because it is efficiently obtained from the cracking of naphtha. If acetylene is used it must first be synthesized by heating methane to about 2732'F (1500'C) or through various other chemical reactions. Vinyl chloride is mixed with water and agitated to form a suspension, much as oil and vinegar are mixed to form salad dressing. Various suspending agents such as starch and gelatin are added to keep the mixture from separating. The temperature of the suspension is raised to about 104'F (40'C) or 122'F (50'C) and an initiator, usually an organic peroxide, is added to start the reaction. The vinyl chloride molecules react with each other to form chains of PVC. The mixture is cooled and particles of PVC are separated from the water in a centrifuge and dried in an oven.
• PVDC is polymerized from a mixture of about 15% vinyl chloride and about 85% vinylidene chloride. To produce vinylidene chloride, first 1,1,2-trichloroethane is made by mixing acetylene, hydrochloric acid, and chlorine, or by mixing ethylene and chlorine. The 1,1,2-trichloroethane then reacts with calcium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide to produce vinylidene chloride. Polymerization of PVDC proceeds in much the same way as PVC.
• Polyethylene is naturally flexible, but PVC and PVDC must have plasticizers added or they will be hard and rigid. Various organic and inorganic esters can be used as plasticizers. Generally the liquid plasticizer is slowly sprayed into dry polymer powder and heated to about 302'F (150'C) to form a homogeneous mixture.


• Making plastic wrap
• Plastic wrap is made by extrusion. In this process granules of plastic are heated until they melt at about 212'F (100'C) for polyethylene and about 392'F (200'C) for PVC and PVDC. The liquid is then forced through a die to form a tube of warm, stretchable plastic. At regular intervals compressed air is blown into the side of the moving tube to form large bubbles. This stretches the plastic to the desired thinness. The thin plastic cools rapidly, and the bubble is collapsed between metal rollers to form a film. The film is wound around a large metal roller to form a roll that may hold several kilometers of plastic wrap. The plastic film on these rolls is then unrolled, cut to the proper length (usually about 49 feet [15 m]) and width (about 1 foot [0.33 m]), and rerolled onto small cardboard tubes. (This rolling, unrolling, and rerolling tends to give the plastic wrap a slight negative charge of static electricity, that helps it cling.) The cardboard tubes of plastic wrap are placed in cardboard boxes that have a serrated edge at the opening so that the consumer can tear off the desired length. Some also have a sticky spot on the box to catch the edge of the plastic wrap so it doesn't stick to the tube. The boxes of plastic wrap are then stacked in cartons and shipped to retailers.

Quality Control

A variety of standard tests exist to ensure that plastic wrap is effective. The most important are tests for permeability, impact resistance, and tear strength.

Water vapor permeability is measured by filling a dish with calcium chloride, a highly water-absorbent substance. It is covered with a sample of plastic wrap and weighed. The dish is then placed in a chamber with a controlled temperature and humidity. After a measured amount of time the dish is weighed again. The increase in weight shows how much water vapor has passed through the plastic. This test can also be done by filling the dish with water instead of calcium chloride and measuring the decrease in weight to see how much water vapor has escaped. These tests are performed at 73'F (23'C) with a relative humidity of 50%, at 90'F (32'C) with a relative humidity of 50%, and at 100'F (38'C) with a relative humidity of 90%.

Gas permeability is measured by placing a sample of plastic wrap between two chambers. The upper chamber contains a pressure of 100 kilopascals, and the lower chamber contains a vacuum connected to a tube containing liquid mercury. As the air in the upper chamber passes through the plastic wrap it increases the pressure in the lower chamber and forces the level of mercury to drop. The change in the level reveals how much air has penetrated the plastic.

Impact resistance is measured by dropping weights of increasing size on test samples until half of them break, at which point the weight is recorded. It can also be measured by filling bags made from the plastic wrap that is being tested with sand and dropping them on a hard surface from increasing heights until they burst. The height at which this occurs is then recorded. Impact resistance is also measured by shooting a small steel ball propelled by pressurized air through a sheet of plastic wrap and measuring how much the plastic slows it down.

Tear strength consists of tear initiation strength (the force required to start a tear) and tear propagation strength (the force needed to continue a tear). To measure tear initiation strength a sample shaped like a shallow V is pulled between two jaws until it begins to tear. This unusual shape is selected to provide a 90 degree angle that provides a controlled starting point for the tear. Tear propagation strength is measured by pulling apart a sample containing a precut slit.

In general, PVDC is stronger and less permeable than polyethylene, which is less permeable than PVC.

Environmental Concerns

Since plastic wrap is difficult, if not impossible, to recycle and is rarely reused, it does contribute to waste. One consumer group, considering such factors as the energy and raw materials needed for manufacture, the wastes released during manufacturing and disposal, the ability to be recycled, and the typical amounts used, has rated plastic wrap as "Good." By comparison, reusable plastic containers were rated as "Excellent," plastic bags as "Very Good," aluminum foil and freezer bags as "Good," and freezer papers as "Poor." Another concern is the possibility that exposure to certain plasticizers in plastic wrap could be harmful. These chemicals are absorbed from plastic wrap into hot and fatty foods. Although they have never been shown to cause harm in humans, plasticizers have been proved to cause cancer when fed in large amounts to lab animals. PVC wrap can consist of as much as one-third plasticizers, PVDC wrap consists of about 10% plasticizers, and polyethylene wrap usually contains no plasticizers.

1. Side Gusset Bags: Low & Linear Low Density

Gusset Bags are like a flat style bags with both sides or bottom tucked in to form gussets and used anywhere. These bags serve as the most adaptive and useful bags in all food service areas. They are excellent for use in preparing and presenting bakery products as well as being ideal for the everyday storage and transport of any food item. All bags are made from virgin resins and comply with FDA and USDA requirements for safe contact with food items. Our comprehensive line of Low Density, Linear Low Density and High Density bags gives you the selection options to meet your needs.

A bag made from clear plastic to store food. Plastic food bags keep food fresh. Food bags are made mostly from ordinary polythene.

2. Polypropylene Flat Reclosable (Seal Top) and Gusseted Bags

Wide variety of polyprop bags specifically suits to the needs of the bakery industry. It's clear to see why polypropylene bags are an excellent way to package and present bakery products. The exceptional clarity combined with polypropylene's excellent vapor and moisture barrier makes it a natural choice for food packaging. Polypropylene bags have long been the choice for product presentation and preserving freshness by fine bakeries.

3. Polypropylene Co-Extruded Bags

Co-extruded bags ideal for freezer applications. These bags possess superior clarity in a material that is thinner and stronger than regular polypropylene. This added strength adds confidence that these bags are not easily torn by sharp-edged hard crusted breads etc

4. Polypropylene Micro-Perf Crusty Bread Bags

Crusty breads can stay crisp without losing freshness. Micro-Perf Crusty Bread Bags having micro perforations throughout the bag to let in just the right amount of air to keep the bread crusty. These clear polypropylene bags are also an ideal way to display bread. Customers can see clearly what they're buying without having to remove loaves from the bags. In addition to making a beautiful presentation, Micro-Perf Bags allow the aroma of fresh baked bread to fill the store.

Micro-Perf Bags, crusty breads can be packaged quickly from the wicket dispenser and sealed with either heat or twist-ties.

5. Bun Pan & Bun Pan Rack Covers

Bun pan and rack covers for assortment of bun pan or rack covers. These covers are available in both low and high density materials and are case packed or on rolls.

6. Sandwich Bags

Popular sandwich bag selection gives a variety of size and closure configurations. Some have an interlocking 'Lip-Flip' closure to keep contents fresh and others have a reclosable seal top to make entry and retrieval easy. There are also perforated pre-opened bags on rolls for special application and easy sandwich packaging.

7. Reclosable Bags Seal Top

These low density polyethylene (LDPE) bags are a natural choice for food service because the zipper type closure makes these bags reclosable and perfect for items that need to be kept fresh and repackaged

8. Reclosable Bags - Slide Seal

Low density polyethylene (LDPE) Slide-Seal bags meet FDA requirements for food applications and are an excellent choice for storing and displaying all types of products. Perfect for items that need to be kept fresh or repackaged, even with gloved hands.

9. Bags on Rolls

Bags on Rolls are the ideal bag delivery system in many food service areas. Bags on Rolls are convenient in dispensing an individual bag at a manual packing workstation where the roll may be placed on a wall or other location to save table top space.

10. Poly Nylon Vacuum Pouches

These pouches are used in the vacuum packaging of meat, fish, poultry, cheese and other perishable food products. Our line of top-quality laminated poly nylon pouches provide the highest levels of clarity, strength and flexibility. These pouches are three-seal constructed offering excellent barrier properties for both oxygen and moisture vapor transmission, resulting in extended shelf life for a variety of food products. All pouches meet FDA and USDA requirements for food contact safety. Sizes are listed by outside dimension.

11. Ice Bags & Ice Bucket Liners

Metallocene Ice Bags are made from a production process that yields a special balance of ideal ice bag requirements. Beyond what is possible with Low or Linear Low Density polyethylene films, these bags excel in high impact strength, low haze/high gloss and clarity, and durability properties.

12. Vest Style carrier bags/Merchandise Bags, & Counter Bags

These bags designed for restaurant take-out and grocery food bagging. These bags are made from various thicknesses of high molecular weight, high density film that makes them stronger and more durable. They come ready to dispense in low cube dispenser cartons that are easy to use at the retail counter or store shelves. Some bags are available in seven colors to fit your particular requirement. The attractive printed Counter Bags are designed to be stable while sitting open on a counter or table. This allows for convenient packing and lowers the risk of spillage when carried or transported

Search Results for "plastic food bags" - Found 1 UK Company:

1. Plastic food bags - Polythene food bags
   Polybags Limited is UK based plastic food bags manufacturer and supplier; offers custom food bags, flat poly bags available in various sizes and styles. All bags made out of virgin material comply to EU & USA food contact standards....
   www.polybags.co.uk
   
   

Below are the list of the Standards for the 'Food bags' to be considered in food contact applications:

• The relevant regulations in the United States of America Food and Drugs Administration as set out in the Code of Federal Regulations 21 C.F.R. Parts 170 to 199 and any subsequent amendments and revisions;


• The relevant European Commission directives for materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs as set out by Commission Directives 89/109/EEC (Framework Directive) and 2002/72/EEC (Plastics Directive).

If you looking for a quality biodegradable bags at cheap prices then please visit biodegradable bags for all your degradable, biodegradable and compostable bag needs...

• WAITROSE TO SELL MILK IN RECYCLABLE PLASTIC BAGS

Waitrose is raising its eco-profile further today as it starts selling milk in plastic bags.

The new initiative from the leading supermarket has been introduced after green campaigners said the sale of millions of plastic milk cartons was threatening the environment.

The supermarket chain will start selling pouches of milk and special jugs to decanter it into with the aim of eventually abolishing plastic milk bottles altogether, thus reducing landfill and saving the energy used in their manufacture. Both the bag and the jug are recyclable.

Britons drink around 180 million pints of milk a week, of which two thirds is sold in plastic bottles. It has recently been calculated that only one in four of these plastic bottles is recycled.

The trial will be run in 17 branches in London, Wales and Bath and Calon Wen, the small Welsh organic farmers behind the initiative, hope the trial may go national within six months.

The one-litre packs will cost 91p and the plastic jugs are a one-off purchase that can be reused at £1.99.

Elen Morris, Calon Wen's marketing officer said: 'The reason I think it will be a success is because environment issues are high on the agenda now - and with 75 per cent less packaging it's a massive reduction in waste every year.'

Other supermarket chains will be watching the scheme closely and predictions are that they will follow suit if the trial is triumphant. (25 June 2007)


Reference:http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/


food grade polythene bags ~ zip food bags



• The joy of cooking with plastic bags. - By Sara Dickerman - Slate.com

Chefs are always looking for extreme ways to cook. Some espouse extreme labor intensiveness: "Dude, you have to remove the pods, skins, and sprouts on every one of those fava beans." Others seek out extreme ingredients: "Our chickens are milk-fed, then finished on figs." There's even extreme rusticity: "Don't use a brush to baste that spit roast; use these rosemary branches instead." And now, it seems, there is extreme slowpokery. Elite restaurants are proudly selling beef cheeks and short ribs cooked for 30 or 40 hours, or fish slow-roasted at 160 degrees. The most popular and fascinating of these superslow techniques is sous-vide cooking.



Sous vide is the practice of cooking food at low temperatures in vacuum-packed plastic bags. (The term is essentially French for "vacuum-packed.") Once you get beyond the cosmic ick of cooking in plastic, the sous-vide effect'something I have experienced in a few European restaurants and some ragtag home experiments'is uncannily tender. Food looks firm and neat but collapses quite willingly in your mouth. And since no juices or vapors escape from those little plastic parcels, food cooked sous vide is full of flavor'a little garlic goes a long way.

Cooking in sealed packets is nothing new. For centuries, people encased food in something more or less waterproof, like a pig's bladder, and heated it in a water bath. Food cooked this way was steamy, moist, and perfumed with any herbs or spices sealed inside the bundle. Then, in 1974, a French chef named Georges Pralus learned that he could prevent the shrinkage of foie gras during cooking if he sealed it in plastic and poached it slowly. Pralus went on to teach the great chefs of the era, including Paul Bocuse, Alain Ducasse, and Michel Bras, about his method, and the technique became fairly common in Europe. (For an interview with Pralus in French, click here.)

The technique remains essentially unchanged. Ingredients are packed in heat-safe plastic bags, and air is sucked out of the package. (Believe it or not, the FoodSaver seen on late night infomercials is the machine of choice for amateurs.) The packets are then cooked in steam or water that is heated to the desired final temperature of the bag's contents. To keep food safe while cooking at extremely low heats, restaurants use scientific-grade immersion baths and steam ovens, which maintain temperatures impeccably. The method can be approximated at home with a closely observed pot of water on the stove, but the temperature will not be as stable. (Sous-vide curious? Click here for advice on trying it yourself.)

In the early days, many European chefs adopted sous vide less for the astonishing textures it produced than for the fact that'once you get beyond the equipment'it's a really economical way to cook. Sous vide produces almost no waste, and it's hard to screw up. For one thing, you can't overcook the food. If you roast your meat in a 350-degree oven, you must pull it out once the internal temperature reaches, say, 130 degrees for medium-rare beef. If you don't reach the oven in time, your dinner will be ruined. With sous vide, you're cooking in water that is the temperature you'd like your meat to end up, in this case 130 degrees. Once the beef reaches that temperature, you can hold it there indefinitely while you fix an elaborate plateful of garnishes. Or, if you cool it briskly, you can keep it in the refrigerator much longer than food that is not vacuum packed (and thus exposed to aerobic bacteria), so restaurant kitchens can prepare meals for reheating days in advance. Paula Wolfert, the globetrotting cookbook author, says the French chefs she encountered in the 1970s used the technique to make a little money on the side: They had their cooks package sous-vide stews and braises in between services and then sold the results to local bars.

For years, the technique stayed in Europe, but recently it's made advances here. Charlie Trotter, Thomas Keller, and Wylie Dufresne are among the American sous-vide avant garde and have been exploring its possibilities for several years. But this year, Food and Wine's roundup of the best new chefs was saturated with references to sous vide and other superslow techniques. Sous vide, it seems, has arrived. Why has it taken so long?

Initially, American chefs may have avoided sous vide because they had concerns about food safety, but I suspect a more significant reason for this delay was aesthetic. For a couple of decades now, we have been carrying on a romance with the fire-bitten flavors and textures produced by high-heat roasting, pan-searing, and grilling. Because we Americans are so closely associated with the bad aspects of the food industry'mushy white breads, microwaveable pap, skinless boneless chicken breasts'high-minded American chefs have felt more of a need to distance themselves from the food industry than Europeans. Burnished, crackly food was the obvious alternative. In the late '80s and '90s, restaurant menus were rife with crusts, be they horseradish, potato, cornmeal, or just the dark amber veneer of a well-seared piece of meat. Barbara Kafka, who had written the definitive microwave cookbook, wrote a very popular book on roasting that advocated daringly high oven temperatures. Photographs in magazines like Saveur further fetishized the crust, lingering on the caramelized pan juices, for example, pooled beneath a glorious roast. And we shouldn't overlook dentistry: Food scientist and texture specialist Malcolm Bourne also argues that as more Americans kept their teeth longer in life, they chose to eat more challenging foods: "A lot of [the] crunchier, tougher food on the marketplace has been a result of a revolution in the dental industry."

But too much of any one texture becomes tiresome. Tenderness is ready for its comeback, particularly as the experimental superstars of international cuisine (including Ferran Adria and Heston Blumenthal, both sous-vide enthusiasts) have inspired young American chefs to use their kitchens as laboratories and seek out new textures. To explore the softer side of cooking, they are trying sous vide and also low-tech options like slow-oven roasting, olive-oil poaching, and even steaming. Crispiness still has a role at avant-garde restaurants, but it is often evident in particularly delicate, highly processed forms: translucent caramel fans; fish skin isolated from its flesh, then crisped in the fryer; or crunchy crumbs of freeze-dried olives.

As for that crackly crust, it may be slipping out of vogue for a moment, but it has its permanent place in our kitchens. The notion of a sous-vide turkey may excite a hard-core experimentalist, but you can be sure that any bird on the cover of a cooking magazine this November will have a gleaming mahogany sheen.

Reference:http://www.slate.com/id/2123101/


food grade bags ~ food display bags



• Anylock Food Storage Bags

Innovative products for around the kitchen Forget bulky Plastic Containers for food storage '

Introducing the AnyLock Food Storage Bag. The secret is not in the bag but the new innovative sealing rod. This AnyLock sealing system is completely 100% watertight and odourtight! This makes them great for storing smelly food such as Cheese, Garlic, Onion etc in the fridge without the risk of it tainting other food. Even put liquid in these bags such as soup, stock, and juices and be rest assured that there will be no leakage. This makes these bags ideal for when you need to take food or drink out and about with you when you are on the move.

Keep your sandwiches nice and fresh for your packed lunch.

The added advantage to these sealing rods is that you don't have to just use them with the AnyLock bags, in fact they can be used on ANY plastic bag to provide a seal and keep freshness in - Packets of Crisps, Pasta, Rice, Cereals, etc

And of course, when they are not in use, they take up very little room lying flat in your kitchen drawer!

Fancy a picnic ' Why not try this great idea ' The CarryLock Liquid Bag.

This uses the same sealing mechanism as the AnyLock Storage Bags but these bags are larger with a gusseted bottom so they stand up in the fridge/coolbox. They also have a drinks dispenser for easy pouring. Again 100% Watertight - so no spills.

Once the drink has all gone, all you have to take home is an empty bag!



Reference:www.householdinnovations.co.uk/kitchen.html


food bags manufacturers ~ green food bags



• NOVA Chemicals 'unwraps' new plastics for food packaging

Pittsburgh, PA - NOVA Chemicals Corporation today announced it has expanded its suite of performance plastic resins for food packaging, introducing new materials to help meet growing consumer demand for fresh, healthy and convenient packaged foods.

The company's latest products were showcased during a special event at The Culinary Loft in New York, NY, on September 21, 2005. The event featured a presentation by Marc Summers, host of The Food Network's number-one television program, "Unwrapped." The event also featured representatives of Clear Pack Co. and Club Chef, companies that are benefiting from the unique attributes of NOVA ' performance resins for food packaging.

"Plastic food packaging has become an integral aspect of the modern kitchen," said Summers. "It is almost impossible to imagine dining at home today without the plastic package that keeps a mixed-green salad crisp and clean as it travels from the garden to your table - or the clear container that maintains the freshness and appearance of a frozen dessert until it is ready to be enjoyed."

As a resin manufacturer, NOVA Chemicals is committed to developing polymers that advance the science of food packaging. The company's research and development efforts have yielded products that not only benefit consumers, they deliver greater value to food packaging companies and brand owners. "By leveraging our technology platforms and working closely with customers and end-users, we are delivering value throughout the chain," said Tony Torres, NOVA Chemicals' Vice President of Styrenics Business Development.

NOVA Chemicals' latest plastic resins deliver:

1. Superior freezer-to-microwave performance: DYLARK' FG 2500 styrenic copolymer is specially designed for high-temperature rigidity to prevent distortion of microwave containers and cold-temperature toughness for freezer protection.
2. Drop resistant, user-friendly food packaging: SURPASS' IFs932-R polyethylene for lids and closures enables better seals and improved flexibility in package design, keeping products such as ice cream and coffee fresh longer.
3. Ready-to-eat convenience: ZYLAR' EX 720 acrylic copolymer delivers clarity and shatter-resistance, making it perfect for takeout containers and frozen or refrigerated desserts.

NOVA Chemicals produces commodity plastics and chemicals that are essential to everyday life. Our employees develop and manufacture materials for customers worldwide that produce consumer, industrial and packaging products. We work with a commitment to Responsible Care' to ensure effective health, safety, security and environmental stewardship. Company shares are traded on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges as NCX.

Reference:http://www.novachem.com/appl/prelease/news.cfm?ID=305