Fresh meat packaging: Trends for retail and food service

Meat packaging implies the extension of shelf-life, by retarding the activity of spoilage bacteria, oxidative processes and changes in sensory properties such as colour and flavour. The use of caseready meat or centralized packaging of meat in retail food establishments continues to increase. The development of new packaging materials and systems during the last 10 years has been based on consumers' concerns regarding safety, quality and environmental sustainability and industry's need to address ease of distribution and labour requirements. The objective of this review is to examine the current understanding and trends of the most traditional and common packaging systems, such as vacuum packaging and modified-atmosphere packaging, as well as the emerging technologies being used by the meat industry, such as high-pressure processing, irradiation, active packaging and intelligent packaging. © CAB International 2010 (Online ISSN 1749-8848).