Gases Are Used for Spoilage Prevention and Ripening Control During Storage, Processing, and Packaging
Food Preservation. There are numerous applications involving the use of gases for food preservation. And it is highly likely that MATHESON personnel have had a hand in deploying and sustaining solutions in applications like yours.
Gases - typically mixtures containing nitrogen - are used for shelf life extension, ripening, spoilage prevention, harvest blanketing, and many more applications.
Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) and Equilibrium Modified Atmosphere Packaging (EMAP) are two techniques used for prolonging the shelf-life of fresh or processed foods.
Pure gas and/or gas mixtures reduce the growth of bacteria and prevent discoloration, and retard the spoilage mechanisms that affect product quality. Such processes are widely used when packing fresh produce, raw meats (including poultry and fish), and also when packaging bakery and snack foods, such as chips and crackers.
Gases used in the packaging process reduce oxidation and the growth of anerobic organisms. In the case of fruits and vegetables, respiration and ethylene production are reduced as well.
In EMAP the permeability of the packaging film takes an active role in the establishment of gas equilibrium in the package, and is more widely used with fruits, vegetables, and other respiring products. Non-respiratory food products, such as meat, fish, and cheese, typically use less permeable films in an application of MAP.
Download brochure: Recommended Gas Mixtures for Food and Beverage Packaging
Gases, specifically CO2, can be used for "snowing" produce or meats, in an application related to product refrigeration. CO2 or nitrogen may also be used for flash refrigeration in the field during harvest. Dry Ice is also used in the field for chilling harvests.
Nitrogen or CO2 may also be used during food processing - such as meat grinding and dough forming - to maintain product malleability while also preventing spoilage.
Also see Cryogenic Freezing.
MATHESON can provide your gas requirements from conventional cylinders up to large bulk deliveries. Contact us with any questions.
For use in food processing, preservation, spoilage control, and ripening, MATHESON routinely provides gases in cylinders, liquid dewars, micro-bulk liquid containers, and bulk liquid delivery vessels ... as well as dry ice.