| 摘要 |
The claims are drawn to a method of detecting seal breakage or incomplete seal formation in a package, said method comprising the steps of: (i) providing said package, prior to sealing, with a strip or ring of an indicator comprising an oxygen scavenging composition which includes a source of labile hydrogen or electrons and at least one reducible organic compound, wherein said strip or ring is located on an internal surface adjacent to where a seal is to be formed, (ii) treating the strip or ring with electromagnetic energy so as to reduce the reducible organic compound to a reduced form which is oxidizable by ground state molecular oxygen regardless of the presence of a transition metal catalyst and such that, when oxidized, there is a detectable change in a characteristic of said composition selected from the group consisting of: colour, fluorescence emission and UV-visible, infrared or near-infrared absorption, (iii) subjecting said package to a sealing process intended to seal the package, and (iv) detecting, in the sealed package, a change in said characteristic of said composition, wherein any detected change is indicative of seal breakage or incomplete seal formation.
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