Quality impact of sustainable ma-packaging options for emulsion-type sausage: A German case study

Abstract

The industrial packaging of meat products is an important process factor to preserve high quality and prolong shelf life by reducing microbial growth, lipid oxidation, and enzymatic autolysis. Currently, legislation and regulations are forcing companies to eliminate or reduce the use of (conventional fossil-based plastic) packaging.This case study in the German meat industry was designed to ascertain the effectiveness of four innovative packaging materials, differing in foil thickness and composition, to preserve the quality of ma-packed emulsion-type sausages during its shelf life compared to a conventional control packaging (multi-layer APET/PE 300µ/62µ). During storage, different product parameters and the atmosphere inside the packages were investigated to analyze the effect on product quality and shelf life.Except for one plastic-reduced multi-layer APET/PE 250µ/47µ, all materials showed significantly higher values for defect packages and gas permeability compared to the control. The decline in product quality varied between the materials showing no correlation between microbial spoilage and a decrease in product quality for emulsion-type sausages in the tested materials in comparison to the control. Besides the control, the multi-layer APET/PE 230µ/62µ was most effective in keeping the quality of ma-packed emulsion-type sausages and preserved an acceptable product quality during its shelf life.

Keywords

• Emulsion-type sausages
• Sustainable packaging materials
• Microbial quality
• Shelf life
• Waste management