Modified atmosphere packaging is the manipulation of the atmosphere that’s within a packaged food, with the purpose of increasing shelf life for the product that’s within. This improves the freshness and shelf life of all different foods including meats, cheese, and even fish, and it is perfect for perishable items. Often, they are packaged with the oxygen in place, and then later on its removed. So why should we use it? How does it work? Read on to find out more!
How it works is based on oxygen, and how it produces the lipid oxygen reactions, causing higher respiration on both fruits and veggies, which in turn is what causes a shorter shelf life. The presence of oxygen is in fact, what causes spoilage, and oftentimes, how microorganisms occur. If you reduce oxygen, replacing it with other gases, you can eliminate this, but you must remove the oxygen first, and from there, you replace it with the gases that won’t’ cause spoilage.
Usually, the gases that this gets replaced with are carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and oxygen, and from there, nitrous oxide, argon, and hydrogen are used in differing amounts, and in turn they all work together to help reduce the microorganisms and bacteria that are in there, causing changes in the function and permeability of the item. Inert gases are often the most common replacement, since they prevent oxidation, and that’s due to the low water solubility, and it prevents the package collapse by keeping the internal volume at a certain level.
So why use this? Well, you can keep food packaged away of much longer, improving the quality of the texture, and thenutrition within it, and it also helps preserve the chemical freshness. The processing of this is enhanced too, and it helps to thereby exceed the expectations of the customer. When it comes to awareness of the brand, providing consistent quality, and products that are fresh, this is a wonderful idea, and it allows for more people to enjoy foods, and benefit from them too.
Are there any downsides to it? Well, the biggest concern is the cost of it, especially since there are cheaper ways to package the food, and if you’re not worried about health and freshness, this might be a little bit too much, and other ways will save you money. MAP is changing over time as well, and there are more and more healthier and fresher alternatives, at half the cost of the processed ones that are out there. This is a form of healthy packaging that doesn’t’ have too many downsides, and you can, with this, create better, healthier options for you. So, are there downsides? Not necessarily, but really it all comes down to cost at the end of the day, how much you’re planning on spending, and how much your company can, but this is a wonderful option if you’re looking for freshness, and if you’re looking to keep the food that you’re packaging preserved.