Antimicrobial packaging help in battle against listeria
Antimicrobial packaging can help food manufacturers in the battle against listeria in ready-to-eat meat products.
According to a new scientific study, antimicrobial packaging with an O2 scavanger of CO2 generator inhibits the development of listeria on ready-to-eat meat products.
Antimicrobial packaging was of the most promising applications of active food packaging technology as it “controls spoilage as well as contamination with pathogens”.
Researchers J. Chen and A. L. Brody defined antimicrobial packaging as packaging incorporating technology that modifies the headspace atmosphere around the product to create a hurdle against bacterial cells.
For this study, they investigated using carbon dioxide (CO2), oxygen (O2) and an allyl isothiocyanate (AIT) generator.
The article said the control of L. Monocytogens was essential because product recalls had caused “devastating losses” to the US food industry, especially as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has started a zero policy against the pathogen on ready-to-eat food.
Between 2003 and 2011, there were 519 food product recalls in the country and more than one-fifth were associated with L. monocytogenes.
