Perishables found in the grocery store such as meat, chicken, fish and produce rely on the food pads underneath them to soak up excess liquids and keep the foods fresh, and suppliers in the nonwovens and associated industries have stepped up to the plate by developing solutions in this market. Nonwovens first made their way into food pads after specialty chemicals company Evonik earned FDA clearance for its food grade superabsorbent polymers (SAP) in the late 1990s, according to industry consultant Phil Mango. “This opened the door for nonwovens in food pads, as nonwovens contain SAP better than the previously used tissue or fluff pulp food pads,” he says. Mango identifies airlaid as the primary nonwoven used in food pads, but spunbond/SAP/spunbond laminates are also appearing in this market. “Airlaid is ideal because a food pad has some of the same requirements as a hygiene absorbent core; quick acquisition rates, no/low rewet, absorbency capacity,” he says. “No other nonwoven can combine with SAP as well to provide all of these attributes.” Fitesa, McAirlaid’s and Glatfelter are among the airlaid manufacturers that currently produce materials for this market. - 

In the pad, the nonwoven offers us a breathable pad,” Vaughn says. “It allows the evacuation of air out of the pad a lot quicker. Also the nonwoven allows us to have the ability to wick juices in a single tray.”

Elaborating on the company’s unique products, Scott Maurer, director of marketing & new product development for Novipax, says: “We offer a sealed pouch pad, and the benefits of a sealed pouch pad is that all of our absorbent materials are consistently maintained within the confines of the pad itself. So there’s no risk of adulterating the food products, our pads are used with, so all of our materials remain fully contained within the pad – that’s one of the huge advantages we have in the industry.”

Further, he adds, many companies that use Novipax pads use high-tech packing equipment, some of which forces huge demands via vacuum on the meat or produce. “They use our products because of the seal strength, and for those pads with nonwovens, they really hold up super well out in the marketplace.”

Meanwhile, La Verne, CA-based Paper Pak Industries’ (PPI) base food pad products use a “pre-consumer” recycled tissue, but the company also incorporates coated spunbond polypropylene facing materials into many aspects of its products, along with super absorbents either as needed or requested by its customers, according to Ron Jensen, president and CEO of PPI. 
“Using nonwovens allows us to change the rate of sorbency and better tailor that rate to the application,” he says.

Differentiating itself from other food pad makers in the U.S., Jensen says PPI offers the widest product line in the industry, giving it a major competitive advantage. “Our use of proprietary pre-consumer recycled tissue also allows us to make our products with the lowest carbon footprint, as determined by using the ASTM formula,” he says. “Finally, we have a large, growing and patent protected line of  ‘active’ absorbents used to either extend shelf life, reduce package odor or improve organoleptics. This line of products is largely unique within the food packaging industry, and it is receiving significant customer acceptance. Our R&D pipeline is quite full and we intend to continue to expand our product line to further develop this ‘active’ technology.”

Super Absorbent Suppliers
Evonik, one of the world’s largest producers of SAP, is currently the only maker of FDA-approved SAP for food grade nonwovens. Its only other competitor in this market, BASF, stopped global production for this type of SAP in 2012, according to industry insiders. Evonik’s superabsorbents can be used in food pads that are placed under poultry, meat, fish, fruits and vegetables.

Creasorb, Evonik’s non-hygiene product line, has been producing FAVOR-PAC superabsorbent polymers for food-grade nonwovens since the late 1990s. Its current grade, FAVOR-PAC 593, is its latest generation product, which has been on the market since 2007. FAVOR-PAC polymers are produced at two facilities in the U.S., in Greensboro, NC, and Garyville, LA.

Producing SAP for the food packaging industry is no easy task. Bobby Mitra, business director for Evonik Creasorb, Nutrition & Care, says to garner FDA approval for such a product, a company must prove that it can control the amount of migratables in the product. The first part of the stringent approval process consists of toxicological studies, which ensure that the formulation contains no “chemicals of concern,” which is essentially a list of undesirable chemicals for food safety. A good practice is to use GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe) ingredients where possible.