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Active packaging for the extended shelf-life of meat: Perspectives from consumption habits, market requirements and packaging practices in China and New Zealand

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posted on 2023-07-26, 23:30 authored by Xin Li, Renyu ZhangRenyu Zhang, Mohammad Mahbubul Hassan, Zhe Cheng, John MillsJohn Mills, Chengli Hou, Carolina Realini CujoCarolina Realini Cujo, Li Chen, Li DayLi Day, Xiaochun Zheng, Dequan ZhangDequan Zhang, Talia HicksTalia Hicks

Active packaging (AP) has been developed to improve the safety, quality and integrity of food, and minimise food waste, while its application in meat is scarce. This review aims to describe meat production and consumption culture in China and New Zealand to provide the context for packaging innovation requirements, focusing on the emerging opportunities for AP to be used for the improvement of the shelf-life of pre-rigor, aged, and frozen-thawed meat products. Sustainable polymers utilised in the manufacturing of AP, manufacturing techniques, the release mechanisms of actives, and legal and regulatory constraints are also discussed. Diverse market compositions and consumption cultures in China and New Zealand require different packaging solutions to extend the shelf-life of meat. AP containing antimicrobials, moisture regulating agents, and antioxidants may be used for pre-rigor, dry- and wet-aged products and in improving the quality and shelf-life of frozen-thawed meat. Further innovations using sustainably produced polymers for AP, along with incorporating active compounds of multiple functions for effectively improving meat quality and shelf-life are necessary. Challenges remain to resolve issues with scaling the technology to commercially relevant volumes as well as complying with the rigorous legal and regulatory constraints in various countries.

Funding

International Cooperation Project between China and NZ (Project No. 2018YFE0105700)

MBIE & SSIF: Foresight New Connections AgResearch-CAAS

History

Rights statement

© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Publication date

2022-09-19

Project number

  • PRJ0271178

Language

  • English

Does this contain Māori information or data?

  • No

Publisher

MDPI

Journal title

Foods

ISSN

2304-8158

Volume/issue number

11(18)

Page numbers

2903

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