This document provides an overview of active and intelligent packaging technologies used in the meat industry. It discusses various types of active packaging like oxygen scavengers, carbon dioxide emitters, and antimicrobial packaging that can help extend the shelf-life of meat products. It also covers intelligent packaging technologies such as time-temperature indicators, gas sensors, and radio frequency identification tags that can monitor meat quality during transport and storage. The document concludes that these advanced packaging technologies are expected to grow significantly to meet consumer demands and reduce food waste.

1. Name : SURAJ KUMAR
Roll No: 18AG63R16
Department of Agricultural and Food Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur,
West Bengal, India.
ACTIVE AND INTELLIGENT PACKAGING
IN MEAT INDUSTRY

2. Contents
• Introduction
• Meat Packaging
• Active Packaging
• Intelligent Packaging
• Conclusion
• References

3. Meat Packaging
“The efficient containment, preservation and protection of a meat product and all
necessary information required during packing, transport, storage, sale and use, along with the
provision of convenience, taking into consideration all legal and environmental issues”

4. Importance of Meat Packaging at Retail Level
Customer choice of a muscle-based product is dependent upon many factors.
Appearance most important
Important meat/pack quality attributes
Meat Colour
Shelf-life Stability
Drip/Moisture Loss
Sensory Attributes
Odour Gain/Loss
Pack Integrity
Pack Appearance
Labelling (dates, additives, product support information)
Convenience

5. Packaging functions (First level packaging)
Technical Function Prevents/Allows:
Free movement of gases
Entry or exit of moisture
Product illumination
Prevent contamination
Sales Function Provides:
Information
Convenience

6. Commercial Meat Packaging Formats
Boxed
Overwrap
Vacuum
Common process
Heat-shrink
Thermoforming vacuum process
Skin vacuum packaging
Modified Atmospheres Packaging(MAP)
Retail and bulk gas flushing

7. Problems Associated with Meat Packaging
Exposure to oxygen:
Systems generally not hermetic
Meat products exposed to varying levels of oxygen
Moisture loss:
Fresh muscle foods lose moisture in the form of drip-loss
Drip-loss in packs can reduce product shelf-life
Compartmentalised odour/flavour:
Development occurs principally through the production of
volatile gaseous compounds via product-package-gas
interactions

8. Introduction to Active Packaging
(Second level packaging)
Active packaging:
Incorporation of certain additives into packaging systems with the aim of maintaining
or extending product quality and shelf-life
or
Active when it performs some desired role in food preservation other than providing
an inert barrier to external conditions .
or
Active when the packaging elements change the condition of the packed food to extend
shelf-life or improve safety or sensory properties, while maintaining quality of packaged
food .

9. Active packaging applications
Absorbing/scavenging oxygen, carbon dioxide, moisture,
ethylene, flavours, taints, UV light
Releasing/emitting ethanol, carbon dioxide, antioxidants,
preservatives, sulphur dioxide, flavours, pesticides
Removing catalysing food component removal:
lactose, cholesterol
Temperature control insulating materials, self-heating and self-cooling packaging,
microwave susceptors and modifiers,
temperature-sensitive packaging
Microbial control UV and surface-treated packaging materials

10. Moisture Control
- Moisture absorbent pads and trays with applications for meat
- Lowering of water activity to suppress microbial growth
- Systems consist of super-absorbent polymers located between two other
plastic layers
Advantages:
• Enhanced product appearance and freshness shelf life
extension
• Removes and retains spoilage bacteria
• Reduces costly rewraps and product downgrades
• Reduces product and packaging waste
• Pads protect product display cases enhanced visual appeal to
customers

11. Oxygen Scavengers
Elevated O2 levels in food packages may facilitate:
Microbial growth
Off-odour and off-flavour development
Colour changes
Nutritional losses
A significant reduction in product shelf-life
Traditional MAP or vacuum packaging may not facilitate complete removal of O2
=> Residual O2 may be removed using oxygen scavenging technology
Existing technology based on: iron powder oxidation, ascorbic acid oxidation,
photosensitive dye oxidation, enzymatic oxidation (e.g. glucose oxidase), unsaturated
fatty acids, rice extract or immobilised yeast on a solid substrate

12. Available as labels, sachets, cards or films
(incorporation of scavenging agent into the packaging film) Ageless® Label
Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co.
Majority of commerically available O2 scavengers based on the principle of iron
oxidation:
Fe  Fe2+ + 2e-
½ O2 + H2O + 2e-  2OH-
Fe2+ + 2OH-  Fe(OH)2
Fe(OH)2 + ¼ O2 + ½ H2O  Fe(OH)3
Ageless® Sachet
Effective with a variety of packaging materials
Reduce and maintains O2 to < 0.01%
De-oxygenation time ~ 1 to 14 days
Oxygen Scavengers

13. Atco® Sachet
Atco® Labels
Emco Packaging Systems.
FreshPax® Sachets FreshPax® Labels
Multisorb Technologies Inc.
Advantages:
- Significantly reduces oxygen levels in packs
- Reduces oxidation reactions (pigments, lipids)
- Reduces aerobic microbial growth
Disadvantages:
- Concerns regarding anaerobic pathogens
- Activation - moisture dependent
- Sachet leakage/consumption
Applications in sliced cooked meats (e.g. hams)
Prevent discoloration in fresh beef
Oxygen Scavengers

14. Oxygen Scavengers
UV light activated films composed of an
O2 scavenger layer extruded into a multilayer film
Reduce headspace O2 from 1% to ppm
levels in 4-10 days ~ comparable with O2
scavenging sachets
Applications:
Dried or smoked meat products, processed and sliced meats

15. Carbon Dioxide Emitters and Scavengers
Function of CO2 to inhibit microbial growth and extend product shelf-life
Removal of O2 or dissolution of CO2 in the product creates a partial vacuum
which may cause collapse of flexible packaging
 Dual action CO2 generators / O2 scavengers
CO2 emitting sachets or labels can also be used alone
Further research required - safety risks of CO2 in packaging systems
e.g. C. botulinum type B
Commercial examples:
Ageless® G
Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co.
FreshPax® M
Multisorb Technologies Inc.
Based on either ferrous carbonate or a mixture of ascorbic acid and sodium bicarbonate

16. Verifrais package (SARL Codimer) extends shelf-life of fresh red meats
Standard tray with a false, perforated bottom containing sachet of sodium
bicarbonate/ascorbate
Juice dripping from the meat onto the sachet results in CO2 emission
 Replacement of CO2 absorbed by the meat
 Prevention of package collapse
CO2 absorbers (sachets) consisting of either calcium hydroxide and sodium
hydroxide or potassium hydroxide, calcium oxide and silica gel
 Removal of CO2 during storage to prevent bursting of package
 Applications in dehydrated poultry products and beef jerkey
Carbon Dioxide Emitters and Scavengers

17. Antimicrobial Packaging
Antimicrobial agents: acid anhydride, alcohol, bacteriocins, chelators, enzymes,
organic acids and polysaccharides
Antimicrobial agents - may be coated, incorporated, immobilised or surface-
modified onto package materials
Antimicrobial films classified into two types:
 films containing an antimicrobial agent which migrates to the food surface
 films effective without migration

18. Introduction to Intelligent Packaging
(Second Level Packaging)
Packaging systems which monitor the condition of packaged foods to give information
about the quality of the packaged food during transport and storage.
Intelligent packaging in some way senses properties of the food it encloses or the
environment in which it is kept and which is able to inform the manufacturer, retailer
and consumer of the state of these properties
Information extensive, though much of it is conceptual
Limited commercial application to date

19. Tamper evidence/pack integrity
- breach of pack containment
Safety/quality indicators
- time-temperature indicators (TTIs)
- gas sensing devices
- microbial growth
- pathogen detection
Traceability/anti-theft devices
- radio frequency identification (RFID) labels/tags/chips
Product authenticity
- holographic images, logos
- hidden design print elements
- RFID
Intelligent Packaging Applications

20. Indicators
Substances that indicate the presence, absence, or concentration of another substance
or the degree of reaction between two or more substances by means of a characteristic
change, especially with respect to colour
Integrity (leak) indicators
Visual O2 indicators: use in low O2 packs
Number of patents (redox dyes) – MAP mince steaks, mince pizzas
Disadvantages
High sensitivity to residual O2 in MAP
Reversibility - undesirable where O2 is consumed
during bacterial growth
Few commercial devices available
Ageless-Eye®, Vitalon®, Samso-Checker®

21. Provide direct product quality information resulting from
microbial growth or chemical changes within a meat product
Potential indicator metabolites
Organic acids, ethanol, biogenic amines, CO2, H2S,
microbes
Disadvantages
Based in broad-spectrum colour changes
Target metabolites do not necessarily indicate poor quality
Toxin Alert – ToxinguardTM
Freshness indicator measures Pseudomonas sp.
Antibodies in polyethylene-based packaging
- can also detect pathogens
Freshness Indicators

22. Time-Temperature Indicators (TTIs)
CheckPoint® (Vitsab International, Sweden)
Small tag or label used to show time-temperature history to which
a perishable product has been exposed
Diffusion-based, enzymatic and polymer-based TTIs offer most potential
VITSAB®, Fresh-Check® and 3M Monitor® - effective indicators of meat quality
‘Do not use if
circle is pink’

23. Radio Frequency Identification Tags (RFID)
Tags - transponder and antenna with unique number or identifier
- non-contact, non-line-of-sight, can penetrate bio-matter including meat (~ 125 kHz)
Wireless data collection technology that uses electronic tags for storing data and identification
of people, animals or objects.
Tags affixed to assets (cattle, pallets, meat bins, packs) to transmit information to a reader

24. Costs
• ~ €0.40 and €0.75 per tag (passive) ; ‘€0.07 in volumes of 106’
• to cost ~ €0.01 after 2007?
• decrease in cost critical to implementation
Tags
•passive: simple, cheap, short-range, powered by
energy from reader
•active: battery powered, more info (temp, RH, nutritional
info, cooking instructions etc), longer range
Applications to meat
• trial stage
• tracking of beef from Namibia to UK
• birth to beef: RFID/bar code tracking
• ‘iBoS’ transport crate for meat products
• Wal-Mart, Tesco, Target, Metro AG
RFID on boxes of frozen meat
(TrolleyponderTM)
Radio Frequency Identification Tags (RFID)

25. Sensors
Devices used to detect, locate or quantify energy or matter, giving a signal for
the detection of a physical or chemical property to which the device responds
Most contain two functional units:
Receptor - physical or chemical information transformed into a form of energy
Transducer - device that transforms this energy into a useful analytical signal
R&D mainly in biomedical and environmental applications
Used to determine a primary measurable or a secondary physical, chemical or
biological variable – ‘the marker concept’
High development costs, exacting industry specifications and safety considerations have
limited commercial realisation although significant steps have been made
Need for traceability, guaranteed quality and safety is promoting development

26. Gas Sensors
Recent developments in optical oxygen sensors based on
fluorescence quenching
Non-invasive technique for gas analysis through translucent materials
Fluorescent or phosphorescent dye encapsulated in a polymer matrix
=> O2 penetrates dye-polymer coating and quenches luminescence (energy transferred to O2)
=> quantified against pre-determined calibration
Ruthenium, palladium(II)-, platinum-porphyrin and porphyrin-ketone complexes
show promise for intelligent packaging use
Relatively long emission lifetimes (~40-500 μs) best for
food packaging applications
Fabrication – dissolution of indicator dye and polymer support
in organic solvent followed by drying
Large scale, continuous production possible

27. Operating criteria for optical O2 sensors in intelligent packaging:
Working range: 0 to 100 kPa O2; detection limits 0.01- 0.1 kPa.
Temperature dependence: Effective from -20 to +70 C
Response: < 10-3 s, ideal for rapid on-line screening
Stability: Effective time/temperature/light/migration stability
Toxicity: Single pack sensor ~ 1 mg, of which > 95% support matrix: non-hazardous
OxySense® - first commercially available fluorescence quenching sensor
• > 98% correlation with GC
• Stable to 150 C without loss of sensitivity
• Rapid (< 5 s per measurement)
• Headspace and liquid measurements
Gas Sensors

28. Oxygen Sensors
Platinum-based O2 sensors as quality control instruments for meat products.
Effects of residual oxygen in anaerobic MAP chicken and beef.
Use of O2 sensors for headspace analysis of commercial ham products.
Use of O2 sensors printed directly onto packaged sous vide beef lasagna.
Migration of active components of O2 sensors in food packaging applications.
Current research - new sensing materials and detection systems.

29. Bio-Sensors
Contaminating bacteria render
bar-code unreadable
SIRA Technologies Inc.
Food Sentinel SystemTM
Compact analytical devices that detect, record and transmit information pertaining
to biological reactions
•Bioreceptor specific to a target analyte (enzymes, antigens, microbes, hormones etc.)
•Transducer to convert biological signals to an electrical response (electrochemical, optical etc.)
Few commercially available systems but more widespread use predicted

30. Conclusion
These packaging technologies anticipated to grow significantly over the next 10 years,
due principally to:
-Consumer demands for meat and other food products which are premium quality and which
provide adequate shelf-life, safety, convenience and information
-Reduction in packaging material costs as formats grow in popularity/sales volume, and as
newer and cheaper formats emerge through research and development
- Greater demands by retailing outlets for extended product shelf-life
- Concerns regarding product authenticity and bio-terrorism
- Growing efforts to reduce unnecessary product/package wastes

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References

32. Thank You