White food casing having low tio2 loading

Abstract

An improved white food casing comprising regenerated cellulose containing titanium dioxide pigment in a weight ratio of less than 0.5 to regenerated cellulose in the casing and containing from about 0.3 to about 1.2 milligrams per square meter of casing of a water insoluble violet pigment. The titanium dioxide pigment and violet pigment are uniformly dispersed in the regenerated cellulose without agglomeration. The food casing usually has an optical density at least as high as a similar food casing containing fifteen percent more titanium dioxide pigment and no violet pigment. The food casing desirably contains titanium dioxide in an amount of less than 15 and preferably less than 13 grams per square meter of food casing. The invention also includes an improved method for making a white food casing comprising cellulose regenerated from viscose having titanium dioxide incorporated therein; wherein the improvement comprises uniformly dispersing titanium dioxide pigment into viscose at a ratio of less than 0.5 titanium dioxide to viscose; uniformly dispersing a water insoluble violet pigment into the viscose in an amount which will result in from about 0.3 to about 1.2 milligrams per square meter of surface area of the casing; and extruding and coagulating the resulting viscose onto a fiber web in the shape of a tube to form a white tubular food casing. The violet pigment is selected to be stable to and alkalized to a pH of at least 7.5 prior to incorporation into the viscose.