MEATPACK

A novel packaging system for meat safety and shelf-life extension

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Meat and poultry products are vehicles for millions of cases of foodborne illness globally each year. Controlling pathogens such as campylobacter, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, and Yersinia enterocolitica, is a primary goal for industry. Additionally, processors are constantly striving to lengthen product shelf life. However, consumer aversion to traditional chemical preservatives has left processors with less flexibility in choosing preservation methods. This has opened up a technological gap where process innovation is required and a major business opportunity presents itself for the development of a non-thermal, novel food preservation system to control foodborne pathogens associated with meat and poultry.

This project will develop a continuous in-package decontamination and shelf-life extension system for meat based on Non-thermal plasma (NTP), offering antimicrobial efficacy without the use of chemical sanitizers and which is non-invasive, leaves zero residues and does not adversely affect product quality. Preliminary studies with NPT on meat products, point to rapid inactivation of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms associated with meat, resulting in significant extensions of shelf-life (an additional 5 days). A laboratory test-rig system will be optimised for its antimicrobial efficacy for in-package decontamination of both red and white meats. Shelf life extension, along with organoleptic and nutritional properties of treated meat will be evaluated. The results will then be scaled up to pre-commercial level and validated in the industry paving the way forward for rapid post-project industrialisation.

A critical advantage of this world-first technology for the meat industry is the In-package treatment, which is desired by the food industry as this approach mitigates against recontamination and provides increased shelf-life.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Despite stringent safety and hygiene standards, meat and poultry products can be vehicles for food-borne illnesses. A nine-member EU-funded consortium is developing a new decontamination process for packed meats to ensure meat safety without compromising taste and nutritional content.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The project http://www.meat-pack.eu (MEATPACK) (A novel packaging system for meat safety and shelf-life extension) looked at several meat cuts, including raw pork loin muscle and cooked turkey. The researchers selected four pathogenic microorganisms, all common contaminants of the meats, and one food spoilage bacterium, of particular concern to extended shelf-life modified atmosphere packaged (MAP) meat products.

MEATPACK is building a prototype, a dielectric barrier discharge plasma unit that is effective and reliable in decontaminating food surfaces, operated within the meat processing and packing line. This can be used by an operator without specialist training and at a realistic cost for small to medium-size enterprises. During operation of the laboratory system, key parameters were optimised, including voltage level, inducer gas and post-treatment storage conditions. The ratios of the gases nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide for the MAP meat packing and storage were determined.

Overall, plasma treatment showed a reduction of both challenge and background microflora. However, the efficiency of the inactivation decreased with increasing complexity of the media/food matrix. Background microflora studies suggested that plasma treatment could potentially extend the shelf-life of MAP meat products with regard to acceptable levels of microbial content.

Meat quality studies showed that surface colour of lamb meat was affected by plasma treatment at the beginning of the study, whereas visual appearance of pork loin and turkey slices were less affected by plasma.

The stand-alone, compact, batch mode, pre-competitive MEATPACK prototype could, if necessary, be incorporated into the production line. The machine will be able to handle a range of trays that are commonly used to pack the meat in the trial.

MEATPACK's system is unique and a review of commercially available technologies has confirmed this. Patenting will follow and the impact of each individual patent on MEATPACK will be determined. The focus of the project website is to inform both the public and industry of the basis of the technology.