Microbiology of Dairy Products Assignment

DM-222 2020
Advantages and Disadvantages of
Active Packaging Systems

Ketan Sharma
Roll number- L-2018-DT-19-B
B.Tech Dairy Technology 2nd year
Assignment of Microbiology of Dairy
Products

Topic- Advantages and Disadvantages/limitations of

following Active packaging systems:-
Oxygen Scavenging System
Moisture Scavenging System
Ethylene Absorbent
Antioxidants releasing system
Carbon dioxide emitting systems
Antimicrobial releasing system

Submitted by-Ketan Sharma

(L-2018-DT-19-B)
Submitted to- Dr. Namita Rokana
(Assistant Professor DM)
CODST,GADVASU, Ludhiana.
 Oxygen Scavenging System

Advantages
 Product shelf life is extended considerably.
 There is prevention of aerobic pathogens and spoilage organisms.
 The risk of vitamin oxidation is reduced (i.e. Vitamin A, C, and E).
 The growth of insects and hatching of insect eggs is prevented (i.e.
weevils, beetles, etc.).
 The color, flavor and overall freshness of products are maintained.
 There are no additives to the food.
 Markets can be extended for global distribution due to prolonged shelf
life.
  Cost savings are realized through reduced waste caused by expired shelf
life and less frequently having to replace dated stock

 Used to protect the food product from the oxidation of its constituent
 In dairy, especially fat rich products( like ghee,butter, cream etc ) are
more prone to oxidation. So it has a great scope in dairy
 Inhibits mold growth in natural cheeses and other fermented dairy
products
 It maintains fresh-roasted flavor of coffee and nuts
 Prevents oxidation of spice oleoresins present in spices themselves and in
seasoned foods
 Extends life of pharmaceuticals
 Delays non-enzymatic browning of fruits and some vegetables
 Sachet is one of the first promising technology for oxygen scavenger.
Since it is an applied packet, there’s very little disruption to the package
production line
 Oxygen Scavenging film is a more emerging packaging as the benefit of
this technology is that the reactants can often be integrated within the
various layers of packaging like- adhesive, printing ink, lacquer, or
enamel as done with cans
 Inhibits oxidation and condensation of red pigment of most berries and
sauces
 Protect products from spoilage aerobic micro- organism
 It also help to reduce the waste of packed food products
 Oxygen scavenging technology can quickly reduce oxygen levels in
sealed containers to below 0.01% which is very less as compare to using
gas flushing or modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) technology
reduced only upto between 0.5% and 5%

Disadvantages
 One precaution for oxygen scavenger packaging is the prevention of
anaerobic pathogen proliferation. Studies have been done with oxygen
scavengers that show pathogens such as Clostridium botulinium Type
E surviving in an oxygen scavenger environment .The real risk is that
the normal aerobic spoilage organisms that act as indicators for the
consumer are not present because of the lack of oxygen in the
 package. Consumers could potentially eat a product with a pathogen
unknowingly if other hurdle technology is not applied to the product.
 They need a certain amount of moisture to activate the oxygen
absorption reaction. Lack of moisture present will result in
nonactivation of the sachet, thus potentially causing quality issues in
the product.
 There are also some commercial sachets that are very sensitive and
could therefore activate prematurely (Gabriele, Michael, p73). If this
occurs the sachet must be disposed.
 They are only exposed to the main area of the package, it is important
that the package does not block the path of the absorber.
 Sachets are not capable of being used with any liquid foods or any
packaging that may have compartments that may entrap oxygen.
 There are other concerns that must be considered when working with
sachets. One risk is that the sachet has the potential hazard of being
consumed.
 There is the chance that the sachet may leak. Although the reactants
within the sachet are not harmful, there may be a problem that could
result as product adulteration or product identity which directly affects
the natural Organoleptic qualities of the product like taste, texture etc
 It also decline the quality of the dry food products rapidly because of
the migration of water from the oxygen scavenger into the food.
 If iron dust is used as oxygen scavenger then we cannot pass the food
product through metal detector which is an essential step from safety
point of consumer
 Except iron dust ,other substances used as oxygen scavengers are
costly
 Affect the food marketing due to increase in food price

Moisture Scavengers
Advantages
 Moisture scavengers reduce the microbial spoilage of the food products
reducing the level of moisture.
 It reduce the enzymatic and chemical changes which affect the texture,
appearance and body of the food product
 It reduce the chances of mold growth and increase the shelf life of the
food product
 It also decrease in moisture condensation inside the products
 It is mainly used in pharmaceutical industry such as packaging of
inhalation powders
 Moisture Scavenging system is used in dairy industry for the packaging
of various types of milk powder like SMP, WMP, Infant milk powder etc
 It has a great scope in the dairy industry
 It help to reduce many defects in milk powder during storage like lumps
formation etc
 Moisture scavenging system maintain the quality of the food product and
this also help us to reduce the packed food wastage

Disadvantages
 Moisture Scavenging system increase the cost of food product in the
market
 It is not widely accepted in the food industry till now.
 It is not frequently used in dairy industry due to its high cost
 It also affect the demand of packed food products especially in
developing country
 It require special attention during the packaging of food product because
desiccant (bags) should not placed in the direct contact of the food
 Packaging machine use for this type packing is more costly than the
normal packaging machines.

Ethylene Absorbent
Advantages
 Ethylene Absorbents helps in long storage of fruits and vegetables for a
long time because it slow down the ripening process.
 It help to make the availability of nearly all fruits and vegetables in every
season.
 It also reduce the wastage of food by reducing the speed of ripening.
 By the help of ethylene absorbent we can maintain the market price of
fruits and vegetables.
 It eliminates decay, mold, discoloration, wilting, softening, scald, loss of
crunch and many other negative effects caused by ethylene gas.
 By the use during Post-harvest handling to slow down the ripening
process of fruits, vegetables and flowers.
 We can use during domestic and international shipments traveling via
ocean, truck, rail and air this packahing will preserve it for a long time.
 It is non-toxic, chemically inert, can be disposed of as normal waste and
easy to handle.

Disadvantages
 Ethylene Absorbents increases the price of the stored fruits and
vegetables than the normal stored
 It also affect the natural firmness of the fruits and vegetables
 It affect the ascorbic acid content of fruits as in ‘Starking Delicious’
apples with ethylene absorbent retained higher ascorbic acid as compared
to untreated one which affect the body and texture of the apples
 It also results in to inncrease the cost of packaging material
 For the ethylene absorbent system packaging trained labour is required
for all the operations so this increase the overall cost of the product
 Antioxidants releasing system

Advantages
 Antioxidants releasing system improve the oxidative stability of the food
products
 It can increase the shelf of the products by inhibiting or slow down the
oxidative reactions.
 It protect the product from oxidative rancidity caused by the oxidation of
fat especially in fat rich products like ghee, butter, oils etc
 It has a great significance in dairy as well as in food industry
 It can also be consumed with food and they are beneficial as they
eliminate the free radicals from food otherwise if these free radicals goes
in human body through food ,they are responsible for various diseases and
this can also help to reduce the signs of ageing.
 It is effective in prevention of degenerative illnesses like many types of
cancers, cardiovascular and neurological diseases, cataracts and oxidative
stress dysfunctions.
 Antioxidants releasing system is safe from safety and consumption point
of view of consumers.
 Antioxidants which are naturally occured in nature like tocopherol( vit.
E), essential oils, polyphenols etc can also be used in this type of active
packaging.

Disadvantages
 The major issue with antioxidant releasing system is that it is very
difficult to control the accurate releasing rate of antioxidants through the
packaging material to the food products
 The selection of suitable packaging material is very difficult for any
particular food involving Antioxident releasing system.
 It increase the cost of packaging material also raise the price of the
product in the market which leads to increase of the food item than
normal.
 More costlier packaging not only affects the market demand of the
product but also the profit of the producer
 There are some antioxidants are not naturally occurring i.e synthetic they
may be not good for consumption in greater amount.
 Only the highly educated and trained persons are required for this type of
operation or packaging so more investments is required for this type of
packaging.

Carbon dioxide emitting systems

Advantages
 It increases product shelf life
 Prevent package collapse(limiting product liquid loss).it is desirable to use
carbon dioxide emitters to avoid collapse of packages containing oxygen
scavengers.
 They produce CO2 inside the packaging after sealing it.
 Relatively high CO2 levels (60 to 80%) inhibit microbial growth on
surfaces and, in turn, prolong shelf life of packed food
 Facilitate smaller packaging size
 It is an economical technology
 By using CO2 emitters we can pack the product in 100% CO2 which is
not possible without CO2 emitter.

Disadvantage
 The permeability of CO2 is 3 to 5 times higher than that of O2 in most
plastic films, it must be continuously produced to maintain the desired
concentration within the package
 The high CO2 levels cause changes in taste of some products therefore
useful only in certain applications such as fresh meat, poultry, fish and
cheese packaging
 It is insufficient to retard the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio
species, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus and Enterococcus faecalis at
ambient temperatures

Antimicrobial releasing system

Advantages
 Antimicrobial releasing system improve the microbiological stability of
the food products
 It reduce the chance of toxin production in the food which leads to illness
like food poisoning etc.
 This help to maintain good quality of the food product.
 Antimicrobial releasing systems also the shelf life of the food and
decrease the wastage of food
 Antimicrobial releasing systems reduce the chances of food poisoning
 It is a good step towards the food safety point which leads to more shelf
life and good quality of product.
 They increase the packed food acceptability among the consumers
 The Lactic acid bacteria produced several antimicrobial compounds which
can be used in antimicrobial releasing system because it affect and kill the
intestinal pathogens so this also provide a therapeutic effect in the humans
 They also help to control the post processing contamination in the food
product if accidentally take place due to human or machine errors hence it
is of great significance.

Disadvantages
 They affect the growth of starter culture due to which body and texture of
the fermented milk product is affected
 It increases the cost of the product which results in to decreases their
market demand of the product.
 There are many misconceptions among the rural and uneducated peoples
that these are chemicals which have negative effect on health so they
avoid the use of packed food products which is also a drawback.
 They kill the probiotic culture (which is good for health and intestinal
microfloura) of the food when used in higher quantity which is not
desirable in the good food packaging system.
 It can also harm the indigenous flora of the food due to which natural
flavour and aroma of the product is changes and loses its characteristic
features.