Chemical treatment and packaging process to improve the appearance and shelf life of fresh meat
AssigneeHormel Foods Corporation
InventorDavid C. Ruzek
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process for packaging fresh meat and the fresh meat package having enhanced visual appeal and shelf life stability, the process including the steps of introducing into the meat a treatment solution comprising a lactate buffer salt and a diacetate microbial growth inhibitor, and packaging the meat in a display unit. The display unit can comprise a thermoplastic tray covered by a transparent film, and one or more display units can be packaged in a film wrapped container. The display unit can also comprise a dividable portion of meat enclosed in a barrier bag. The atmosphere within the container can be maintained as a high oxygen atmosphere.
Claims18
A process for packaging fresh meat to obtain improved appearance and extended shelf life, which process comprises:
- (a) treating fresh meat with an aqueous solution consisting essentially of a major proportion of water, an alkali metal lactate agent and an alkali metal diacetate microbial growth inhibitor, said aqueous solution used in an amount sufficient to increase the weight of the meat up to about 125 wt -% of its original weight, to produce a treated meat comprising about 1 to 5 wt % of an alkali metal lactate and about 0.01 to 0.2 wt % of a diacetate microbial growth inhibitor, the percentages based on the meat;
- and
- (b) packaging the treated fresh meat in a closed film package.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.