What is Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) ?
When I searched for a definition of modified atmosphere packaging on the web, Wikipedia comes up on top with this definition: “Modified atmosphere is a common technical definition that describes the practice of modifying the composition of the internal atmosphere of a package (commonly food packages, but this technique is also used for drugs) in order to improve the shelf life. The modification process often tries to lower the amount of oxygen (O2), moving it from 20% to 0%, In order to slow down the growth of aerobic life forms and the speed of oxidation reactions. The removed oxygen can be replaced with nitrogen (N2), commonly acknowledged as an inert gas, or carbon dioxide (CO2), which can lower the pH or inhibit the growth of bacteria.” This is good enough to begin our discussion I have personally been in several plants that use Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) including fresh produce, meat, prepared foods and coffee to name just a few. MAP is a packaging technique used to exten
