Application Studies / Oral Breath Strips

Oral Breath Strips

Industry:

Films

Food

Pharmaceutical

Gels

Cosmetics

Packaging

Attributes measured:

hardness

film toughness

elongation

firmness

burst strength

work to break

stiffness

shelf life

packaging effectiveness

Background

Oral strips are small thin films, made from a variety of different ingredients that contain high levels of flavor. Most are highly sensitive to atmospheric conditions and are therefore very well packaged to prevent both dehydration and moisture pick up. The ability to measure the firmness or burst strength of a strip, the amount of work to break it, and its stiffness are useful to monitor production & ingredient changes, shelf life and packaging effectiveness. Five brands of oral strips were purchased and tested immediately after opening the package, and again after 15 minutes exposure to the air. Two of these same packages were retested 30 days later using a similar protocol; immediately after coming out of the package and after 30-40 minutes exposure to the air. The TA.XTPlus Texture Analyzer with a TA-8 ¼ inch diameter stainless steel ball probe was used to break through each strip which was held in place with the TA-108s Film/Gel Extensibility Fixture. The instrument and test method was able to pick up even very subtle differences in film toughness and elongation due to exposure.