Food preservation technology has to take
into account two factors of ever increasing importance:
 | Extending product file. |
| Reducing the amount of additives used. Modified atmosphere packaging can satisfy both of
these demands and is rapidly spreading throughout Europe and overseas. |
It involves modifying the atmosphere around the food product inside the wrapper. This
allows chemical, enzymatic or microbiological reactions to be controlled and therefore
reduces or eliminates the main processes of deterioration in the product. The combination
of three independent elements is the basis of this technology:
| The packaging machine |
| The wrapping material, which should be barrier type |
| The gas or gas mixture |
In comparison to more conventional techniques, i.e. air or vacuum-packing, modified
atmosphere (M.A.) packaging constitutes the best way to preserve food, without sacrificing
the attractiveness of traditional packaging. Depending on the type of product, the
modified atmosphere technique uses special gases or mixtures of gases with different
properties. M.A. packaging can be used a variety of applications and covers a wide range
of products: meat, sausages and salami etc., baked products, precooked foods, cheese,
powdered milk, coffee, fruit juice, wine, crisps and savories, nuts and dried fruit, etc
The significant advantages of M.A. packaging are numerous:
| The extension of the preservation period allows the economies of production scale to be
exploited, inventory management and transport costs to be handled in the most profitable
way, expansion into foreign markets, maximization of revenue and minimization of losses,
etc; |
| The reliability of a package, designed in accordance with the strictest hygiene
regulations which ensures maximum product quality without affecting its esthetical
appearance; |
| Practical and cheap, from a technical point of view, however, this technique requires a
packaging machine with special features; |
| It means the level of additives and preservatives used can be constantly reduced. |
Depending on the sort of product and the shape of the wrapper, the M.A. packaging
procedures are of two basic types:
- "Washing" with gas. The packaging machine, vertical or horizontal, produces a
continuous tube of wrapping material into which the gas is introduced. This gas replaces
the air in the wrapper.
- Compensated vacuum-packing.
Packaging performs many complementary functions; protecting the product against
external polluting agents, giving the product marketing value and providing the customer
with information about ingredients or how to use the product. It should be highlighted
that M.A. packaging will not have the same success if the foodstuff is not
bacteriologically pure when wrapped. The effects of the gas in the product can be
increased if certain hygiene and control conditions are adopted which allow the product to
arrive at the wrapping stage with a very limited bacterial presence. Therefore, depending
on how long a product is required to last, the working environment and the production
plants should be sanitized, while the air coming into the works and of course the
ingredients themselves should be controlled. Strict hygiene regulations should be imposed
on workers who are in direct contact with production. Extending preservation times
requires the production of foodstuff which lends itself to gas treatment. |
|
