Micron-Level Leaks in Packaging Are Now Being Precisely Captured by This VOC Inspection System

A pinhole in a beer package—invisible to the naked eye and only one-hundredth the diameter of a human hair—is enough to cause oxidation and spoilage within a few weeks. Detecting such microscopic leaks has long been a major challenge in the food packaging industry.

With the recent release of GB/T 15171-2025 Test Methods for Packaging Seal Integrity, China’s new national standard has, for the first time, officially incorporated the vacuum decay method, pushing seal inspection from qualitative observation toward quantitative analysis.
The new standard will be fully implemented on February 1, 2026, replacing the previous version that had been in use for more than 30 years.

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01 New Standards, New Challenges

Packaging seal inspection is undergoing a fundamental transformation. On August 1, 2025, the updated GB/T 15171-2025 standard was officially released, redefining how packaging quality is controlled in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Compared with the 1994 version, the new standard introduces three major upgrades. The most significant change is the expanded scope of application—from only flexible packaging to flexible, semi-rigid, and rigid packaging.

The standard formally establishes a dual inspection framework, combining the traditional underwater bubble test with the vacuum decay method.
Vacuum decay quantifies leakage by monitoring pressure changes with high-precision sensors, enabling true non-destructive and quantitative testing.

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02 Industry Pain Points in Food Packaging Inspection

In food packaging, seal integrity directly affects product safety and shelf life. Traditional manual inspection methods are inefficient and highly subjective, becoming a bottleneck for industry development.

On production lines, common packaging types—such as paper-plastic composites, aluminum-plastic pouches, and flexible bags—often suffer from issues like uneven heat sealing, weak seals, micro-pores, or pinholes. These defects are frequently discovered only during distribution, leading to moisture ingress, oxidation, and mold growth.

As China’s food packaging industry continues to expand rapidly—surpassing RMB 200 billion in market size in 2023—the demand for efficient and highly accurate inspection technologies is growing more urgent than ever.

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03 Comparison of Mainstream Seal Inspection Technologies

Seal integrity testing technologies for food packaging generally fall into two categories: physical methods and chemical methods, each with distinct principles, accuracy levels, and application scenarios.

To provide a clearer comparison, the table below summarizes the major inspection technologies currently in use.
(Table omitted here for layout purposes.)

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04 An Innovative Solution: High-Precision VOC Seal Inspection

At the forefront of high-sensitivity detection, a new approach based on volatile organic compound (VOC) analysis is gaining momentum.

This technology detects specific VOCs escaping from package leaks, achieving ppt-level sensitivity (parts per trillion). It not only determines whether leakage is present but can also identify the chemical composition of leaked substances, offering unprecedented capabilities for flavor preservation and quality control.

The high-precision VOC seal inspection system developed by Dongguan Newleda Technology Co., Ltd. is a representative solution along this technological path. It combines a self-developed ultra-high-precision VOC analyzer with a proprietary flow-channel design to support high sampling rates.

Special emphasis is placed on chamber uniformity and high-throughput production compatibility, making the system particularly well suited for large-scale inspection of flexible food packaging such as beer and beverage containers.

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05 Newleda Technology’s Seal Inspection Solution

To meet the food packaging industry’s demand for high accuracy and high efficiency, Dongguan Newleda Technology Co., Ltd. has introduced a high-precision VOC seal inspection system that represents a new direction in inspection technology.

Equipped with a self-developed high-sensitivity VOC analyzer, the system can detect trace leaks that are difficult or impossible to identify using traditional methods. Its uniquely designed flow-path architecture ensures stable sampling rates and consistent detection accuracy, even on high-speed production lines.

For products highly sensitive to oxidation—such as beer and carbonated beverages—traditional inspection methods may fail to detect micro-leaks that eventually compromise quality. VOC-based inspection can identify these defects before they impact product integrity.

The system’s highly uniform chamber design ensures consistent results across different package positions, which is critical for quality control in mass production. Its automated, integrated design allows seamless integration into existing production lines, enabling continuous, non-stop inspection.

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06 Industry Applications and Future Outlook

Advancements in packaging seal inspection are reshaping quality control across the food industry. The transition from manual visual checks to automated and intelligent inspection systems not only improves efficiency but, more importantly, strengthens food safety assurance.

In the beverage industry, high-speed lines may require inspection of hundreds of packages per minute, a pace traditional methods cannot sustain. Emerging technologies such as VOC inspection offer millisecond-level response times, fully meeting the demands of high-throughput production.

With the implementation of GB/T 15171-2025, packaging seal inspection is moving toward a future defined by quantification, intelligence, and standardization. Through continuous innovation, domestic instrument manufacturers are driving China’s packaging quality standards closer to international benchmarks.

A Japanese food company has already deployed an AI vision inspection system on its salad packaging line to detect foreign material trapped in sealing edges—even transparent onion slices are accurately identified. The system automatically diverts defective products in real time, achieving simultaneous gains in quality and efficiency.

At an even finer, molecular level, Newleda’s VOC detection technology is pushing inspection accuracy to new heights. As more detection data is accumulated, AI algorithms will be able to predict packaging risks under different storage and transportation conditions, enabling a shift from passive inspection to proactive protection.