Abstract
The establishment and control of oxygen levels in packs of oxygen-sensitive food products such as cheese is imperative in order to maintain product quality over a determined shelf life. Oxygen sensors quantify oxygen concentrations within packaging using a reversible optical measurement process, and this non-destructive nature ensures the entire supply chain can be monitored and can assist in pinpointing negative issues pertaining to product packaging. This study was carried out in a commercial cheese packaging plant and involved the insertion of 768 sensors into 384 flow-wrapped cheese packs (two sensors per pack) that were flushed with 100% carbon dioxide prior to sealing. The cheese blocks were randomly assigned to two different storage groups to assess the effects of package quality, packaging process efficiency, and handling and distribution on package containment. Results demonstrated that oxygen levels increased in both experimental groups examined over the 30-day assessment period. The group subjected to a simulated industrial distribution route and handling procedures of commercial retailed cheese exhibited the highest level of oxygen detected on every day examined and experienced the highest rate of package failure. The study concluded that fluctuating storage conditions, product movement associated with distribution activities, and the possible presence of cheese-derived contaminants such as calcium lactate crystals were chief contributors to package failure.
Highlights
Oxygen is directly or indirectly linked to the major incidences of spoilage associated with hard cheeses
When such primary packaged cheese products have been manufactured for export, the primary packaging must contend with more challenging stresses from the point of collation, handling, and distribution purposes through extended distances and environmental conditions presented as the primary packs move through the cold-chain distribution system employed in the market placement of such products
The oxygen in the cheese cheese packs increased in group both experimental treatment groups,level withpresent standard deviation packsdemonstrating increased overthat time in bothoccurred experimental treatment standard deviation bars bars variation as a result of thegroups, presencewith of failed packs
Summary
Oxygen is directly or indirectly linked to the major incidences of spoilage associated with hard cheeses. If the package, packaging process, storage, or distribution conditions fail to contain hard cheese products properly, the benefits imposed by modifying the atmosphere will be ineffective, and “snug-back” or “snug-down” will not occur, thereby negatively affecting the visual appearance of the final retail pack. When such primary packaged cheese products have been manufactured for export, the primary packaging must contend with more challenging stresses from the point of collation, handling, and distribution purposes through extended distances and environmental conditions presented as the primary packs move through the cold-chain distribution system employed in the market placement of such products. This investigation concentrates on a larger sample size (384 cheese blocks) in an industrial setting and assesses the influence of distribution on packaging containment by measuring oxygen levels in the cheese packages using non-destructive oxygen sensor technology
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