The Sonderhoff USA Corporation from Elgin, Illinois, was granted the approval for a two-component flexible foam gasket of the Sonderhoff product line Fermapor K31, specifically developed for food packaging, by a renowned and independent US certification and testing institute.
The certificate was issued in accordance with title 21 of the US Code of Federal Regulation, 21 CFR § 174.5 “General Provisions Applicable to Indirect Food Additives”. According to the approval, the polyurethane (PU) foam gasket product Fermapor K31 with the type description “A-LA-384-12-I-2” in connection with the hardener Fermapor K31-B-23 may be used for sealing food packaging.
“We are very proud to have been certified within a relatively short period of one year, thus demonstrating that our new flexible foam gasket Fermapor K31 A-LA-384-12-I-2 meets the strict FDA standards for food packaging,” says Holger Hülsken, President and CEO of Sonderhoff USA Corp. “Using the Sonderhoff mixing and dosing technology as a full or semi-automated system solution, this foam gasket makes it possible to acquire new customers from the food packaging sector.”
To date, the American packaging industry has been using EPDM or DIE-cut gaskets, mainly inserted manually, for sealing food packaging. According to Mr Hülsken, the cost disadvantage of this labor-intensive work and the resulting loss of material due to potential post-treatment and rejects were eliminated by the automation of the gasket application by means of the Sonderhoff mixing and dosing systems.
Sonderhoff notes the FDA-certified PU foam gasket Fermapor K31 is applied to the food packaging directly on site and hardens at room temperature. An additional advantage compared to the inserted EPDM gaskets is that the PU foam gasket for food packaging provides a seamless seal in contrast to gasket inserts. The coupling point is not visible and maintains its sealing function even at this position.
The automated process for sealing food packaging with PU foam gaskets is considered an innovation in the US which has previously not existed in the market, according to Sonderhoff. The formed in-place foam gasket (FIPFG) technology is still new in the American industry and requires time-consuming information campaigns in the production plants, explains Mr Hülsken.
Source: http://www.adsalecprj.com/Publicity/MarketNews/lang-eng/article-67005398/Article.aspx
