PACKAGED FOOD PRODUCT FOR HEATING IN OVEN

Abstract

A packaged food product for being heated in an oven or heater includes a container with a food and a lid. The container includes an inwards raised bead at the inner wall of the container near the opening end of the container. The lid includes a recess designed to engage with the raised bead at the inner wall of the container in such a way as to snap-close the container. The food is located in the container.

Claims

1. A method comprising: defrosting a food located in a container of a packaged food product, the container comprising an inwards raised bead at an inner wall of the container, the inwards raised bead adjacent an opening end of the container, the product further comprising a lid comprising a recess, wherein engagement of the inwards raised bead at the inner wall of the container with the recess of the lid forms a snap closing between the lid and the container, and the food comprising a chilled or frozen meal product and water, the food is in a wet state from the defrosting; and heating the packaged food product in an oven or a heater without removing the lid from the container with the defrosted food inside.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the heating of the packaged food product comprises evacuating steam from the container through a closure junction without opening and removing the lid from the container, wherein the inwards raised bead defines the closure junction of the container between the container and the lid.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the closure junction between the container and the lid is in a sealed state during the defrosting of the food located in the container.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the heating of the packaged food product causes the water to transition from fluid to the steam, the steam having a pressure that causes the closure junction to transition from the sealed state to the evacuated state.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the closure junction in the evacuated state evacuates a portion of the steam from the container without opening and removing the lid from the container.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the closure junction in the evacuated state is positioned to separate the rim at the periphery from the opening end of the container to thereby allow the steam to travel to the outside of the container.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the inwards raised bead extends around an entire circumference of the inner wall of the container.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the opening end of the container is round or oval.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the container and the lid are made of a material suitable for being heated in a microwave oven.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the material is at least one of a rigid material, a steam-proof material and a water-proof material.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the material is selected from the group consisting of polypropylene, crystallized polyethylene terephthalate (CPET), plastic, molded pulp fiber, laminated molded fiber, and combinations thereof.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the lid comprises a rim at the periphery configured such that the lid sits on the opening end of the container.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the lid further comprises a circumferential extending neck at the rim.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising a disk covering the lid, and the disk is nested within the circumferential extending neck of the lid and covering a portion of the lid.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the lid is bent inwards in a direction of the container in order to form a bay, niche or indent at a surface of the lid.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein a surface of the lid is concave, curved towards an inside of the container.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the packaged food product comprises a shrink film wrapped around part or all of the packaged food product prior to the defrosting of the packaged food product.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the oven is a gas oven, electric oven, or a microwave oven.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the heating of the packaged food product in the oven or heater comprises placing the packaged food product in a water bath.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the lid is interlocked with the container to prevent the container from sliding laterally on the surface of the lid prior to the defrosting of the packaged food product.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B: Schematic drawings of prior art packaged food product solutions when heated closed in an oven. The arrows indicate presence and pressure of steam originating from water evaporation from the heating of the food product in the container. Upon generation of sufficient steam pressure, the packaging violently ruptures usually at the interphase between the container and a closing film or lid. FIG. 1A) shows a typical packaged product with a film sealed lid; and FIG. 1B) shows a typical packaged product with a snap-fit lid. Figure legend: container (1), film or lid (4), food (6), water steam (11).

[0020] FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B: Schematic drawing of a packaged food product of the present invention. FIG. 2A) shows the full packaging with the release of steam generated through water evaporation upon heating of the food; and FIG. 2B) shows an enlargement of the junction between the container and the lid. Figure legend: container (1), inwards raised bead (2), lid (4), recess (5) in the lid to engage with the raised bead (2), food (6) in the container (1), rim (8) at the periphery of the lid, bend of lid forming a bay, niche or indent (12), steam (11) generated by the evaporation of water from the food (6) when heated.

[0021] FIG. 3: Schematic drawings of some different embodiments of the packaged food product of the present invention. Container and bead are in black, the lid is shown with perforated lines.

[0022] FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B: Drawing of a preferred embodiment of the packaged food product of the present invention. FIG. 4A) shows the side view of the product; and FIG. 4B) shows an enlargement of a partial cross-sectional view of the junction between the container and the lid. Figure legend: container (1), inwards raised bead (2), lid (4), recess (5) in the lid to engage with the raised bead (2), rim (8) at the periphery of the lid, circumferential extending neck (9) at the rim of the lid.

[0023] FIG. 5: Schematic drawings of an embodiment of the packaged food product of the present invention showing the disk or film (10) and further showing the shrink wrap (13).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0024] The present invention provides a packaged food product comprising a container, a lid and a food, characterized in that:

[0025] the container comprises an inwards raised bead at the inner wall of the container near the opening end of the container;

[0026] the lid comprises a recess designed to engage with the raised bead at the inner wall of the container in such a way as to snap-close the container;

[0027] the food is located in the container;

[0028] wherein the packaged food product is suitable for being heated in an oven or a heater without the need of removing the lid from the closed container.

[0029] Preferably, the packaged food product is a prepared meal product. A prepared meal product is a food product which has been prepared by a food manufacturer and which is sold, typically ambient, chilled or frozen, to be prepared by a consumer for example by heating in an oven, such as a microwave oven, and be consumed at home or out of home.

[0030] Preferably, the packaged food product of the present invention is a chilled or frozen prepared meal product.

[0031] The inwards raised bead at the inner wall of the container of the present invention is near the opening end of the container. Thereby, near means at the opening end of the container, or a short or very short distance away from that opening end of the container. The location of the inwards raised bead defines the closure junction of the container between the container and the lid. It should be such that the function of the container, i.e. to provide sufficient space to contain a prepared meal in the container and to enable an appropriate closure of that container with a lid, is preserved.

[0032] In one embodiment of the present invention, the inwards raised bead leads at least part around the circumference of the container. Preferably, the inwards raised bead leads around the entire circumference of the container.

[0033] In one embodiment of the present invention, the container of the packaged food product of the present invention is a bowl, a cup, a beaker, a jar, a ramekin or a goblet.

[0034] In a preferred embodiment, the opening end of the container is round or oval. Thereby, oval meaning the opening end to have a rounded and slightly elongated outline or shape, like e.g. the shape of an egg.

[0035] In one embodiment of the present invention, the container and the lid are made of a material suitable for being heated in a microwave oven.

[0036] In a further embodiment of the present invention the material of the container and of the lid is rigid. For the present invention, rigid means that the material is firm and/or stiff with a certain hardness. The material should not be completely inflexible; but upon bending by force, the material should regain its original form upon release of said force. The rigidity of the material is thereby determined by its chemical nature as well as its thickness.

[0037] In a preferred embodiment, the material of the container and lid of the present invention is selected from polypropylene, crystallized polyethylene terephthalate (CPET), plastic, molded pulp fiber, laminated molded fiber, or a combination thereof In a further preferred embodiment, the material of the container and lid of the present invention has a thickness from 0.5 to 5 mm, preferably from 0.6 to 4 mm, more preferably from 0.7 to 3 mm, even more preferably from 0.8 to 2 mm.

[0038] In another embodiment of the present invention, the material of the container and lid is steam- and water-proof. Preferably, the material is also steam- and water-proof when heated to a cooking temperature of 100 C. or of 120 C.

[0039] In one embodiment of the present invention, the lid of the packaged food product comprises a rim at the periphery designed for the lid to sit on the opening end of the container. Preferably, the lid further comprises a circumferential extending neck at the rim. This will allow to nicely place the lid on top of a container in such a way as to ease its handling and opening by a consumer.

[0040] In a further embodiment, the lid is bent inwards in direction of the container in order to form a bay, niche or indent at the surface of the lid. In a still further embodiment, the surface of the lid is concave, curved towards the inside of the container. This specific bent of the lid and its surface has the advantage of allowing an easy handling and opening of the lid by a consumer. Because of this bent and form, the lid can more easily be bent for example by the force of the hand of a consumer in order to remove the lid from the container. Furthermore, this specific bent and form also provides some space on top of the lid which would allow to place or insert further objects to the packaged food product which could be easily removed by a user before heating the packaged food product in an oven. Such further objects could be for example cooking instructions, ingredient and/or food product lists, information to consumers as to the nutritional value of the food product, sachets with containing seasonings, spices, herbs, salt and/or pepper, items such as a spoon, fork, toy for children, etc. Preferably, this further embodiment further comprises a disk or a film, covering the lid. Preferably, the disk is nested within a circumferential rim and neck of the lid and covering said lid. With this disk any of the further objects are protected and preserved for example during transport and distribution of the packaged food product.

[0041] In one further embodiment, the packaged food product of the present invention further comprises a shrink film (13) wrapped around part or all of the packaged food product.

[0042] For example, one embodiment of the present invention consists of a rigid lower container and a rigid lid which snap together using an interlocking raised bead and corresponding recess on the corresponding part of the lid. The lid may contain a recess to hold additional components which need to be separated during transportation and subsequently accessed and used during consumption. This recess in the lid may be covered with a disk or a film of similar or different material which acts to contain and protect the additional component. The entire assembly may be sealed with plastic sleeve that is shrunk from the base to wrap over the lid and lid disk or film. Benefits of the present invention can be as follows:

[0043] 1. The shrink sleeve may be perforated and easy to remove. It may provide tamper evidence, lock the lid in place, and provide a way to easily remove packaging graphics.

[0044] 2. Once the shrink is removed the lid disk or film simply lifts up to reveal the additional component. This component may need to be excluded from the heating process, so this allows for easy access, without exposing or needing to touch the food below.

[0045] 3. The lid disk may act as a recipe card to contain for example the preparation steps. The disk's easy removability lets for example the user keep the instructions with them while the rest of the container is heating in a microwave or standard oven.

[0046] 4. The package's main closure is easy to open, for example with one hand. To open, the thumb and a finger placed on opposing sides of the lid can simply squeeze to pop the lid loose. At this point the lid can be left resting on the container opening to prevent splattering and retain some steam, or removed entirely. This will also keep the dish warm until ready to eat.

[0047] 5. The lid or closure may then be placed under the main container to act as a saucer, protecting the user from the hot package base and to place to rest a utensil, keeping it off of the table for cleanliness. The lid and container base may interlock to keep the container from sliding laterally on the lid surface. The extra space headspace above the food but below the top container edge provides a second cool location from which to handle the heated package. A final feature which protects user and the user's furniture from heat may be the raised ridges on the container base. If the user wishes to leave the lid on the top of the container, or not use it, these ridges may isolate fingers and surfaces from the hot package base.

[0048] 6. The container may offer additional potential benefits through the ability to survive e.g. washing in a residential dishwasher, and possesses a lid that can be securely re-attached for re-purposed use.

[0049] 7. Preferably, all of the components are fully recyclable without further disassembly or processing.

[0050] 8. Re-purpose-able components (container and lid) may be nested in multiples to save space in the user's home.

[0051] The packaged food product of the present invention is suitable for being heated in an oven or a heater without the need of removing the lid from the closed container. For the purpose of the present invention, an oven or a heater is a device for heating up and/or cooking a food product. Preferably, an oven is a standard kitchen oven used by today's consumers or a microwave oven; a heater is preferably an air or water heater such as e.g. a water bath to warm-up prepared food dishes.

[0052] Those skilled in the art will understand that they can freely combine all features of the present invention disclosed herein in the specification, figures and in the different embodiments. Further advantages and features of the present invention are apparent from the figures and the example.

[0053] FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B show an example of an embodiment of the present invention. Thereby, the elements of the packaged food product are as follows: container (1), inwards raised bead (2), inner wall (3) of the container, lid (4), recess (5) in the lid to engage with the raised bead at the inner wall of the container (1), food (6) in the container, opening end (7) of the container, rim (8) at the periphery of the lid, circumferential extending neck (9) at the rim of the lid, disk (10). The container and the lid are made of crystallized polyethylene terephthalate (CPET) and have a wall thickness of 1.2 mm.