MOWIFLEX™ –a crucial component for food casings
MOWIFLEX™ is a special compound of PVOH andplasticizer designed for thermoplastic processing. Due to its unique properties it is ideally suited for the use in foodstuff casings that comprisea blend of a polyamide base, MOWIFLEX™ andother optional agents. The shrinkable and smokable thermoplastic film overcomes the drawbacks ofprevious food casing products. Casing containing

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MOWIFLEX t further™ products.

MOWIFLEX™ show significantly better performance
especially in terms of dimensional stability, uniformity of diameter, permeability to smoke, surface printability and meat adhesion.
Moreover, MOWIFLEX™ may comprise further additives such as slip agents, antioxidants, pigments,dyes, fillers and polymeric compounds and evenmixtures thereof.

How MOWIFLEX™ improves required properties
Particularly in the case of foodstuffs, a high productquality and a long shelf life have absolute priority.
MOWIFLEX™ is perfectly suitable for sausages, meatand cheese casings or other smokable goods. Thefilm exhibits a level of porosity that enables smoke
components and water vapour to pass throughthe film, thereby flavouring and/or colouring theencased foodstuff. This synthetic food casing provides a high degree of oxygen barrier properties
and protects the product from external influenc-es, such as UV-radiation and drying-out.
Furthermore, MOWIFLEX™ adds and supports additional properties that are of critical importance forfood casings. These include high mechanicalstrength and elasticity, excellent thermal shrinkage,
caliber stability during
stuffing, high thermal
resistance and aroma barrier.

Production efficiency of casings
thanks to MOWIFLEX™
The synthetic casings on a polymeric base including
MOWIFLEX™ have several advantages in comparison to natural casings or those made of cellulose
or collagen. Firstly, these casings can be producedof a polymer melt in a large-scale industrial mass
production. The second aspect is cost efficiency as
natural casings are an expensive and rare good andalso affected by bacterial degradation. Thirdly, themanufacturing of synthetic cellulose or collagencasings is also less yielding and associated with toxic substances like carbon disulphide and formaldehyde.

Considering this, there are two efficient methods of casing production:
1. extrusion as tube through an annular die or 2. extrusion through a flat-slit
die to obtain a flat sheet. The film, when
extruded and formed into a casing, remains
dimensionally stable once stuffed with foodstuff and throughout the cooking and smoking
processing cycle.
It results in a tight wrinkle-free appearance without requiring any after-shrinking steps.

Adding value to your products – worldwide
HelsinkiFrankfurt
Merrillville

Nizhny Novgorod

Hartlebury
ParisWilmington

Beijing
MilanoTokyo
Osaka

Qingdao
Shanghai

HoustonAmericas

Mexiko CityEurope

Barranquilla

Asia
MumbaiNew Delhi

Bangkok

SingaporeSão Paulo
Buenos Aires

Kuraray Headquarters
Kuraray Sales Offices
Kuraray Production Sites
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Kuraray America, Inc.
2625 Bay Area Blvd.,
Suite 600 Houston, TX77058
United States of America
Phone: +1 800 423 9762
info.kuraray-poval@kuraray.com

Kuraray Europe GmbH
Philipp-Reis-Str. 465795 Hattersheim am Main,
Germany
Phone: +49 69 305 85 351
info.eu-poval@kuraray.com

Head Office:Kuraray Co., Ltd.
Ote Center Bldg.
1-1-13, Otemachi Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 100-8115, Japan
Phone: +81 3 67 01 1000
infopoval.jp@kuraray.com

approved and thus suitable for food applications. Ecologically
KURARAY POVAL™ is advantageous due to its biodegradability
and the fact that combustion does not generate residues. It isavailable in various particle sizes from granules to fine powders.
Kuraray produces its wide range of KURARAY POVAL™ grades inJapan, Singapore, Germany and the USA. Kuraray’s global production and service network make us your partner of choice forinnovative high-quality PVOH resins.

KURARAY – Here to Innovate.

Kuraray Asia Pacific Pte., Ltd.
250 North Bridge Road
#10-01/02 Raffles City Tower
Singapore 179101
Phone: +65 6337 4123
infopoval.sg@kuraray.com

Kuraray China Co., Ltd.
Unit 2207, 2 Grand Gateway
3 Hongqiao Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai 200030, China
Phone: +86 21 6119 8111
infopoval.cn@kuraray.com

08/2019

KURARAY POVAL™, EXCEVAL™, ELVANOL™ and MOWIFLEX™ are thetrademarks for polyvinyl alcohols made by Kuraray. Their key
characteristics — outstanding film-forming properties and highbinding strength — add real value to your products. Our polymers
are water-soluble, highly reactive, crosslinkable and foamable.
They have high pigment binding capacity, protective colloid characteristics and thickening effects. The physical and chemical
properties of KURARAY POVAL™ make it ideal for a wide variety ofapplications, ranging from adhesives through paper and ceramics to packaging films. Many of our polymers are food contact-