Life technology for longer shelf life of food products

Food industry enterprises, as well as retail outlets that sell food, are understandably economically interested in an extended shelf life of products. Packaging research plays a key role in this issue.

Existing methods are aimed at stopping the biochemical processes that lead to food spoilage, but they have their drawbacks. In particular, the method of vacuuming, which is widely used in our country, consists in placing fresh products in a package made of a multilayer barrier film and creating an airless environment inside. However, this method has certain disadvantages. For example, interaction with packaging material leads to product deformation, release of juices and its aging. Anaerobic bacteria also continue to multiply in the vacuum, which can infect products before packaging.

As an alternative to vacuuming, the Life technology has been formed. It consists in modifying the gas environment inside the barrier packaging with a food product.

The essence of the process

The negative aspects of vacuum packaging can be compensated for if the products are placed not in a vacuum, but in a gas environment selected individually for each type of food. The basis of the gas mixture, as a rule, consists of three gases that stop the growth of microorganisms that lead to spoilage of products:

• Oxygen. The oxygen content in the packaging when using Life technology reaches 80%. This allows you to preserve the taste and aromatic properties of the product and maintain its natural microflora at a certain level — that is, to preserve the quality of the product.
• Nitrogen. Since nitrogen is an inert gas, it does not affect the properties of products in any way, its main function is to remove oxygen residues and maintain the gas mixture at a stable level.
• Carbon dioxide. Inhibits bacterial growth.

The main requirement for packaging materials when using Life technology is high—quality barrier properties. The NTL Packing company has all the necessary equipment to implement this and other modern solutions in food packaging.

Advantages

The main advantage of Life technology is the extension of the shelf life of products. Thus, chilled meat in a vacuum bag is stored for up to 5-6 days, and with the use of Life technology, the period increases to 9-12 days.

The second advantage is the preservation of the appearance of the goods. Due to the fact that the product does not interact directly with the packaging material and does not emit liquid, a properly selected gaseous medium retains its visual appeal, taste and aromatic qualities. In addition, carbon dioxide acts even after opening the package, and the change in the quality of the product is delayed for several more days.