Modified Atmosphere Packaging

Modified atmosphere packaging modifies the composition of the internal atmosphere of a food package to improve shelf life. Foods such as meat, fish, poultry and dairy have a short shelf life in the presence of oxygen, which encourages lipid oxidation, keeps fresh produce respiring at a high rate, and supports the growth of aerobic spoilage microorganisms; reducing oxygen and replacing it with other gases can reduce or delay both oxidation reactions and microbiological spoilage. Oxygen scavengers may also be used to reduce browning caused by lipid oxidation by halting the auto-oxidative chemical process, and the technique achieves its effect by incorporating different compositions of gases into the package.