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Absorbent pads are a packaging component made for one job: taking up the excess liquid a food product releases while it sits in its pack. In meat, poultry, fish and fruit packaging in particular, they absorb the purge and condensation that would otherwise collect in the tray, so the product on display looks fresher and stays more hygienic.

The pads are built from materials chosen for how much they can hold — usually a cellulose core, on its own or combined with a super absorbent polymer. Everything that touches the product is approved for direct contact with food.

Why they are needed

Food releases liquid naturally during packing. With red meat and seafood it happens fastest and in the largest volume. Once that liquid pools in the bottom of the tray it does two things at once: it makes the pack look poor on the shelf, and it gives bacteria somewhere to grow.

An absorbent pad pulls that liquid off the product surface and holds it inside the core, where it cannot run back out. The product sits dry, the pack stays clean, and what the shopper sees is the food rather than the liquid around it.

Where absorbent pads are used

The largest use by volume is meat and poultry. Fish and seafood packing is next, and because seafood gives off a great deal of liquid it usually calls for a higher-capacity pad.

Fresh produce is the third area. Soft fruit such as strawberries and blackberries bruises where it sits in moisture, so a pad under the fruit keeps the base of the punnet dry through transport and display.

What they give a packer

The immediate benefit is presentation: a clean, dry pack reads as a better product, and that matters at the point where a shopper is choosing between two trays.

The second is shelf life. Taking the free liquid away from the product surface slows spoilage, which reduces markdowns and waste for the retailer and the producer alike.

Axorbia manufactures absorbent pads in a range of sizes and absorbency capacities for exactly these applications. You can see the full range on our products page.