{"id":439,"date":"2026-09-23T10:50:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T02:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bersamaberita.com\/blog\/?p=439"},"modified":"2026-09-23T10:50:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T02:50:30","slug":"what-is-the-oxygen-barrier-performance-of-heat-sealable-food-film-48ac-6bcd46","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.bersamaberita.com\/blog\/2026\/09\/23\/what-is-the-oxygen-barrier-performance-of-heat-sealable-food-film-48ac-6bcd46\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the oxygen barrier performance of heat – sealable food film?"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve ever grabbed a bag of sliced turkey from the fridge that still looked fresh three weeks after the \u201cbest by\u201d date, or a bag of microwave popcorn that didn\u2019t go stale before you even popped it, you\u2019ve probably benefitted from heat-sealable food films\u2019 unsung hero: their oxygen barrier performance. As a supplier of these films, I get asked this question all the time\u2014usually from small-batch snack makers, meat processors, or even home bakeries tired of throwing out goods that went bad too fast. Today, I\u2019m breaking this down like we\u2019re chatting over coffee, no stuffy lab jargon that makes your eyes glaze over. Heat-sealable Food Film<\/a><\/p>\n

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First, let\u2019s get real about why oxygen even matters for food. It\u2019s not just the air we breathe\u2014it\u2019s food\u2019s worst enemy when it\u2019s sealed up. Oxygen fuels two big problems: oxidation and microbial growth. Oxidation turns fats rancid (that \u201coff\u201d taste you hate in old nuts), breaks down vitamins like A and C, and makes fruits and veggies go brown (think cut apples turning mushy). As for microbes, most bacteria and mold need oxygen to survive\u2014so if oxygen seeps through your packaging, those little guys will throw a party right in your product. That\u2019s where oxygen barriers come in, and that\u2019s exactly what heat-sealable films are designed to nail.<\/p>\n

Now, I know what you\u2019re thinking: \u201cNot all heat-seal films are the same, right?\u201d Exactly. The oxygen barrier performance isn\u2019t a one-size-fits-all number\u2014it depends on the materials we use to make the film, the thickness, even the environment the package is stored in. Let\u2019s run through the most common materials we work with, because that\u2019s where the magic happens.<\/p>\n

The workhorse of most heat-sealable oxygen barriers is EVOH\u2014short for ethylene vinyl alcohol. If you\u2019ve ever ordered vacuum-sealed meat, chances are it had an EVOH layer. The thing about EVOH is it\u2019s super tight to oxygen, like a locked safe for air. But here\u2019s the catch: EVOH hates moisture. If it gets wet (like in a deli meat package that sweats a little in the fridge), its barrier performance drops hard\u2014we\u2019re talking 30-40% worse if it\u2019s soaked. So to fix that, we usually pair EVOH with other layers, like polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP), which are moisture-resistant. Those layers keep the EVOH dry, and the EVOH keeps oxygen out. It\u2019s a team effort, basically.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s polyvinylidene chloride, or PVDC. PVDC was the go-to for a long time\u2014think of those old foil-like plastic bags for bacon or cheese. It\u2019s actually pretty good at blocking oxygen, even when it\u2019s a little damp, which makes it great for refrigerated foods. But it\u2019s fallen out of favor for a lot of brands because it\u2019s not as recyclable as other materials, so more and more of our clients are switching to EVOH-based or bio-based films these days.<\/p>\n

Speaking of bio-based films, that\u2019s a huge trend we\u2019ve seen take off in the last five years. We get a ton of requests from organic or sustainable brands asking for heat-sealable films that don\u2019t use fossil-based materials, and we\u2019ve come up with some solid options here. The catch is, early bio-based films had garbage oxygen barrier performance\u2014they let way too much air through, so food went bad in days instead of weeks. But now, with things like plant-based EVOH or chitosan coatings (chitosan is from shrimp shells, weird but true), we\u2019ve closed that gap. Our latest bio-based line has an oxygen transmission rate (OTR) that\u2019s almost as good as standard EVOH films\u2014like 10 cm\u00b3\/(m\u00b2\u00b7day) or less, which is basically unheard of for plant-based wraps. For context, regular PE film? That\u2019s like 1,000 cm\u00b3\/(m\u00b2\u00b7day) or higher\u2014so it\u2019s like leaving your bag open. Huge difference.<\/p>\n

Wait, let\u2019s talk about that OTR number, because this is where people get confused. OTR stands for Oxygen Transmission Rate, and it\u2019s the measure of how much oxygen passes through a film in a day, per square meter. Lower OTR = better barrier, obviously. So for fresh red meat, which needs to stay red (oxygen keeps that myoglobin pigment bright), you actually want a medium OTR\u2014like 50-100 cm\u00b3\/(m\u00b2\u00b7day)\u2014so a little oxygen gets in to keep the color, but not so much that it goes bad. For roasted coffee beans, though? You want OTR under 1 cm\u00b3\/(m\u00b2\u00b7day) because even a tiny bit of oxygen will make the beans go stale in a month. For vacuum-sealed frozen veggies? We aim for under 5 cm\u00b3\/(m\u00b2\u00b7day) to keep them from getting freezer burn (freezer burn is just oxidation, fyi).<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s something most suppliers won\u2019t tell you: OTR isn\u2019t the only thing that matters. You have to test it under real conditions, not just lab standards. A lot of labs test OTR at 23\u00b0C (room temp) and 0% humidity, which makes EVOH look way better than it actually is in the real world. So at our facility, we test every film our clients order under their specific storage conditions\u2014if they\u2019re making a frozen pizza that\u2019s stored at -18\u00b0C, we test OTR at that temp, not room temp. If they\u2019re shipping to a hot, humid place like Florida, we test at 30\u00b0C and 85% humidity, because that\u2019s when most films\u2019 performance drops. We had a client a couple years back who used a cheap film from a competitor that had a great lab OTR, but when their popcorn shipped to Houston in the summer, the humidity made the film\u2019s barrier fall apart\u2014half the batch went stale on the shelves. That\u2019s why we never rely just on spec sheets; we get our hands dirty testing.<\/p>\n

Another factor that affects oxygen barrier performance is how the film is sealed. If you get a bad seal\u2014like gaps, wrinkles, or heat that\u2019s too high or low\u2014you might as well not have a barrier at all. We teach all our clients (for free, by the way) how to set their sealers correctly, because a heat-seal that\u2019s too hot will melt the barrier layer, and one that\u2019s too cold won\u2019t bond, leaving tiny holes. We even give out seal test strips so they can check their seals before running a full batch. Last year, a small salsa maker came to us because their sealed jars had 20% spoilage; turns out their sealer was set too low, so the top of the bag wasn\u2019t fully closed. We walked them through adjusting it, and spoilage dropped to under 1%. Little thing, huge difference.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s talk about what this means for your business, because that\u2019s what really matters. If you\u2019re a startup making homemade jerky, a film with an OTR of 20-30 cm\u00b3\/(m\u00b2\u00b7day) might be all you need\u2014jerky is low-moisture, so it\u2019s pretty resistant to oxygen, and a cheaper film will keep your costs down. If you\u2019re a craft brewery packaging cans of non-alcoholic beer, you need a super high barrier (under 5 cm\u00b3\/(m\u00b2\u00b7day)) because beer is sensitive to oxygen\u2014even one tiny percent of oxygen in a can will make it taste \u201ccardboardy\u201d after a few months. And if you\u2019re a bakery packaging soft bread, you don\u2019t want a barrier that\u2019s too high, because bread needs to breathe a little to keep from getting moldy\u2014OTR around 100-200 cm\u00b3\/(m\u00b2\u00b7day) works perfectly, so it stays fresh but doesn\u2019t get soggy.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve had clients come to us thinking they need the absolute highest barrier, only to find out it\u2019s overkill and driving up their packaging costs. Like, one small batch cookie maker was using a high-EVOH film for their butter cookies, which were only going to local farmers\u2019 markets for two weeks. We swapped them to a standard PVDC heat-seal film that cost 25% less, and the cookies stayed just as fresh\u2014they didn\u2019t need the next-level barrier for a two-week shelf life. That\u2019s the kind of advice we give: no pushing the most expensive product if you don\u2019t need it.<\/p>\n

Also, let\u2019s address the elephant in the room: sustainability. A lot of people worry that good oxygen barriers mean bad for the planet, but that\u2019s not true anymore. We\u2019ve worked hard over the last decade to develop films that have great barrier performance, are recyclable, and use less fossil fuel. For example, we have a line of mono-material heat-sealable films that use PE for the moisture layer and a plant-based barrier core\u2014so they\u2019re easy to recycle, no messy layers to separate, and their OTR is almost the same as traditional multi-material films. A recent client, a organic produce brand, switched to these films and saw their packaging waste go down by 40% while also cutting their product spoilage by 15%. Win-win.<\/p>\n

I know a lot of suppliers out there will just give you a spec sheet and say \u201cthis is our best oxygen barrier\u201d\u2014but at the end of the day, your film\u2019s performance depends on your specific product, shelf life, storage conditions, and even your shipping route. We don\u2019t believe in one-size-fits-all, so we work with every client to test their needs before we send them a quote. Whether you\u2019re a small startup with a 30-day shelf life or a big food processor with a 6-month frozen product, we can tailor a heat-sealable film that has exactly the oxygen barrier performance you need, without wasting your money or hurting the environment.<\/p>\n

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If you\u2019re tired of dealing with packaging that makes your product go bad too fast, or paying way too much for a barrier you don\u2019t need, reach out to our team. We\u2019ll send you free sample films, test them under your actual conditions, and walk you through what works best for your product. No sales pitches, no confusing jargon\u2014just straight talk about what will keep your food fresh and your costs low. Let\u2019s get your packaging working for you, not against you.<\/p>\n

Retortable Pouch<\/a> References<\/p>\n