3 Considerations For Vacuum Packaging Food

By Bob Goldberg, Marketing Manager, PAC Machinery

The consumer demand for tasty, visually appealing, nutritional, packaged foods has grown exponentially in that last decade and this market-driven need has motivated food-packaging professionals to seek new and innovative approaches to shelf-ready packaging. One thing, however, has not changed. Serving the needs of both the packager and the consumer, vacuum packaging remains at the center of today’s food packaging industry as it has the proven ability to extend the shelf life of the product by days, weeks, or even months.

It’s not surprising that in the specialized practice of vacuum packaging, there is no standard approach as each food product presents with different requirements. Nuts, for example, require a different set of criteria — pouch material, machine type, packaging process, etc. — than cheese, coffee, prepared meals or fresh chicken.

Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) is an excellent means to extend the shelf life of fresh foods. Using MAP, the oxygen that surrounds the food is driven out of the packaging and is replaced by a carefully-formulated mixture of inert gases — usually a combination of carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Typically, the shelf life of perishable, non-respiring products, such as meat, fish, and poultry, can be prolonged using MAP as it slows the undesirable effects of microbial and enzymatic activity. The specific mixture of gases and the packaging materials used depends on the type of food and its storage temperature. Non-respiring foods require the use of impermeable, high-barrier films. The initial flushed-gas mixture will be maintained inside the modified atmosphere package. MAP offers an alternative to other food preservation methods, such as vacuum packaging, freezing, canning, or bottling.

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