Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) has gained popularity in recent years. The technique is a way to package food products in a controlled atmosphere that extends the product's shelf life and maintains its quality when it arrives at the consumer's home.
This is especially important since many people are looking for sustainable solutions to lower their carbon footprint, including how they purchase and consume food.
Table Of Contents
What is Modified Atmosphere Packaging?
Market Value of Modified Atmosphere Packaging
A Sustainable Packaging Solution
Extends Products Shelf Life
Affordable MAP Packaging Machine Costs
It Is An Alternative To Vacuum Packing
A Versatile And Multipurpose Solution
The risk of product damage and rate of losses decreases when using MAP
Maintain Product Quality
Lessens Packaging and Food Waste
Conclusion
What is Modified Atmosphere Packaging?
Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) is a technique used to preserve food. It involves using gasses such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and other inert gasses to control the atmosphere surrounding packaged foods during distribution and storage. Packaging engineers can manipulate the type and amount of gas inside the package to create a modified environment that helps maintain quality attributes like flavor, color, and texture for more extended periods than traditional packaging methods.
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Market Value of Modified Atmosphere Packaging
Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) is a growing market, with an estimated value of USD 18.51 billion by 2026 globally. MAP is a small part of the overall packaging industry, including traditional overwrapping and shrink wrapping, modified atmosphere packaging, and controlled atmosphere storage (CAS).
The rapid growth in this area has led to several new trends that are worth exploring here:
A Sustainable Packaging Solution
In particular, MAP is a more sustainable solution than vacuum packaging, gas flushing, and injection. In addition to being more environmentally friendly than these standard methods, MAP also offers multiple benefits: it helps reduce food waste by allowing goods to stay fresh longer; it reduces food spoilage during transportation by maintaining the quality of your products; it improves safety standards for foods with high-risk levels of pathogens such as ready-to-eat meats or seafood, and it provides an extra layer of protection for sensitive products like pharmaceuticals.
Extends Products Shelf Life
MAP packaging is a process that extends the shelf life of products by slowing down the rate at which respiration, oxidation, and chemical reactions occur. This can be achieved by altering the concentration of gasses inside a package or container to create an environment suitable for long-term storage. You might have seen this in action when you opened a bag of chips and noticed that they didn't taste as fresh as they should this is due to MAP technology!
Affordable MAP Packaging Machine Costs
Modified atmosphere packaging is trending because the costs of machines are cheaper than gas flushing and vacuum packaging.
MAP packaging machines cost less than traditional ones, making them more affordable to the consumer.
In addition to its relatively low cost, an advantage of this type of machine is its ability to preserve food for an extended period of time. It also has no adverse effect on the taste or texture of products wrapped in it, unlike other methods such as heat sealing or vacuum packing (for example)
It Is An Alternative To Vacuum Packing
Vacuum packing is a process where the air is removed from the package. This method can preserve food or products that must be stored for long periods, such as meats and fish. However, vacuum packaging can also negatively affect food taste because it removes moisture from it, resulting in a dry texture.
Instead of using vacuum packaging to store your product, try controlled atmosphere packaging. In this method, carbon dioxide gas replaces oxygen in the package, so there is less oxygen available for microbes to grow on your product's surface. Since only carbon dioxide gas replaces the air within your package instead of removing all gasses from it like conventional methods like freezing or refrigerating food items, MAP allows you to get more out of their shelf-life without compromising on taste or texture!
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A Versatile And Multipurpose Solution
Modified atmosphere packaging is a versatile solution that can be used for several products. While MAP is most commonly used to extend the shelf life of fresh produce and other organic products, its also useful for high-value items such as pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Additionally, since MAP extends shelf life without requiring refrigeration, it can protect perishable goods from damage caused by temperature fluctuations while they are transported or stored in warehouses.
Because MAP protects products from light exposure, its an ideal solution for sensitive items like packaged meats and fish that need to be protected from harmful light levels during transportation or storage. Additionally, many fruits and vegetables need protection from oxygen and certain types of gasses (such as CO2) to stay fresh longer, making atmosphere packaging an effective preservation method for these items.
The Risk of product damage and rate of losses decreases when using MAP
Modified atmosphere packaging is one of the most effective ways to protect your products from damage during transportation and storage. This method of packaging uses a mixture of gasses that allow for better preservation of food quality and safety, as well as ensuring that your packages arrive in good condition at their destination.
While vacuum packaging can be effective, it often has its disadvantages: the product may lose moisture or oil content during the process, resulting in a less-tasty product than you would have wanted to ship out.
Gas flushing also presents problems when trying to ship delicate products such as fruits and vegetables; these items may become damaged due to fluctuations in temperature or pressure caused by shipping them with gasses other than air (such as carbon dioxide or nitrogen).
Maintain Product Quality
As per the modified atmosphere packaging definition, it is a solution that extends the shelf life of products, ensuring the consumer receives their product in premium quality. It is considered more sustainable than other packaging methods because it uses less material and doesn't require an airtight seal to maintain freshness. MAP can be used for several types of products, including meats, fruit and vegetables, and even pharmaceuticals.
Its important to note that there are two different types of modified atmosphere packaging: MAP-1 and MAP-2. Both use varying levels of oxygen, carbon dioxide (CO2), or nitrogen gas but differ in terms of how much oxygen is present when your supplier or retailer seals the packager.
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Lessens Packaging and Food Waste
Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) is a process that extends the shelf life of food. It does this by creating an environment that reduces oxygen and controls other gasses to prevent spoilage. The product is placed within a gas-permeable plastic bag, which allows the modified atmosphere to be distributed throughout it.
MAP also has benefits as:
Sustainability less food waste! Products don't have as much time in their original packaging before they're sold out, reducing waste associated with expired items already purchased but never used due to improper storage conditions at home before the purchase date expires (it happens). This method also helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions because fewer truckloads are needed since consumers only purchase what they need rather than stocking up on bulk quantities, unnecessarily wasting space and energy during transportation.
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Conclusion
We believe this trend is here to stay and will continue to be the preferred method of packaging for both large and small businesses. There are many benefits to using MAP, including less food waste, a more sustainable solution than other packaging methods, and one that will help keep your products fresh longer without sacrificing quality.
