Application of Aseptic Packaging of Livestock Products: A Generalized Overview

Application of Aseptic Packaging of Livestock Products: A Generalized Overview

Santanu Nath¹, Susmita Majumder²

1. Division of Livestock Products Technology, ICAR-IVRI Bareilly (U.P.)
2. Division of Physiology & Climatology, ICAR-IVRI Bareilly (U.P.)

Abstract:

Animal-derived products are highly perishable, and if they go bad, the consumers could get sick; as well as rendering it unacceptable for consumption. Various packaging methods have been evolved to contain the products as well as to increase its shelf life. Aseptic packing is a well-known innovation that transformed the food sector. It not only increase the shelf life, but also provide sterile products free from pathogenic and spoilage microbes, thus providing safe and wholesome foods to the consumers. As aseptic packaging does not require refrigeration or freezing and may be kept under room temperature. It saves energy; minimizes the transportation associated spoilages and also enable consumers to eat exotic food items which are not readily available locally.

Introduction: Production of commercially sterile food products by continuous UHT (ultra high treatment) processing requires a special packing system to ensure continued product sterility and also attainment of expected shelf life (Ansari & Datta, 2003). It may include TETRAPAK or canning. Aseptic packaging is the process of aseptically filling a sterile product into a sterile container and hermetically sealing it to avoid re-infection. The word “aseptic” comes from the Greek word “septicos,” which means “putrefactive bacteria are not present.”

Aseptic packing has a long history that begins in the early 20th century. J. Nealson, following Orla Jensen, who secured a patent for the aseptic conservation procedure in 1921, filed a patent application for it in Denmark prior to 1913. Dole introduced the market’s first aseptic filling facility, which used steam sterilization at 210 °C. In Switzerland, the first aseptic packing setup for mills was created in 1961. (FDA, 2018).

Advantage of aseptic packaging:-

• The procedure guarantees food safety by verifying that it is free
• As no refrigeration is required, it saves energy in transportation and storage of food products.
• Packaging materials are portable and light.
• Addition of preservatives is not needed.
• It has low packaging to product ratio. There are more than 90 % food materials to 10 % package.
• At room temperature, the product’s shelf life is extended. a drawback to aseptic packing

Disadvantage of aseptic packaging:-

• Due to more complicated system, the production cost is higher which ultimately results in increased cost for the consumer.

Methodology of aseptic packaging:-

– The steps involved in aseptic packaging are as follows:

• Sterilization of product before filling.
• Sterilization of packaging materials, containers, closures before filling.
• Sterilization of aseptic installation prior to operation (UHT unit, lines of goods, sterile air and gases, filler and relevant machine zones). Sterilization of packing materials, containers, and closures before filling.
• Preserving system sterility throughout operation and sterilizing all media entering the system like air, gases, water, etc.
• Production of hermetic package.

(Fellows, 2000)

Application of aseptic packaging:-

There are largely two avenues. Firstly, it is used for packaging of pre-sterilized or sterile products such as milk & milk products, canned fish and meats, eggs and egg products, puddings, desserts, juice, soup, etc. Secondly, it is used for packaging of non-sterile products in order to avoid spoilage by microbes. Yogurt, Lassi, and other fermented milk products are included.

Aseptic packaging of milk:-

The “Tetra-pack” technology for aseptic or long-life milk was first introduced in Sweden. It uses a filling environment warmer and a laminate pre sterilizer. The flexible laminate includes aluminum foil as a necessary component to act as a barrier against light and gas. In the UHT process, milk is initially heated to between 73 and 85 °C, quickly elevated to 135 °C for a brief period of time, and then abruptly cooled by flashing into a vacuum chamber. It must be packaged in sterile conditions only. For at least three to six months, refrigeration is not required. A shelf life of up to a year is conceivable if kept refrigerated. The pouches are kept in plastic crates that can be used repeatedly as part of the distribution system. Tetra Pak aseptic cartons are formed of three basic materials that together result in a very efficient, safe and light-weight package. Each material gives a specific function. A ship’s aseptic tank, which has a capacity of around 8 million gallons, can be as small as a few fluid ounces. New, affordable, and secure food products are exported and imported globally using aseptic processing. Drink boxes and pouches are two more prevalent package kinds (Hersom, 2009).

Aseptic packaging of meat:-

Aseptic packaging of meat can be achieved by means of canning. Aseptic canning was developed in an attempt to improve finished product quality. Aseptic canning refers to a method of sterilizing containers and products separately and then assembling them in an aseptic atmosphere to achieve a sterile package that can be stored at room temperature. The products to be canned is heated while flowing continuously to a temperature around 300 ͦ F. This temperature sterility is achieved in a very short time (Pearson and Gillett, 1996).

Aseptic canning involves following steps:-

The process of preservation by thermal sterilization of a product held in hermetically sealed containers.

1. Preparation of meat and gravy: The 4cm meat chunks are cut and the gravy is prepared by using condiments, tomatoes, dry spices and salt etc.
2. Precooking: In some vessels, meat and gravy are precooked at 70 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. It causes shrinkage of meat band, reduces the initial microbial load.
3. Filling: This may be manual or mechanical, leaving proper head space as per BIS specifications. Half of the gravy is filled first in the cans followed by meat chunks and finally the rest of the gravy.
4. Exhausting: Before the container is closed, air must be removed from it. It’s important to reduce the stress that air expansion during heating puts on can seams. Mechanical exhausting may vacuum seal the cans.
5. Seaming: Seaming is a process of putting the air tight seal between the cover and the body of the container to prevent the entry of micro- organisms. To create a hermetic double seam, a double seamer machine is typically used.
6. Retorting or thermal processing: The product is subjected to high temperature under pressure for sufficient duration to achieve commercial sterility. To kill the microbial spores, sterilization for 60 minutes or longer at 121 ͦ C may be necessary.
7. Cooling: Retorting is followed by fast cooling up to 30-40 ͦ C to give a shock to thermophilic bacteria.
8. Washing: The just cooled cans are greasy and filthy, so they are washed with soapy water and then wiped.
9. Labeling: Labeling of cans with mandatory labels with regard to product characteristics, Manufacturer address, license, best before etc.
10. Storage: Cans should be stored in a cool and dry place preferably at 20 ͦ C   (V.P. Singh & Neelam Sachan, 2015)

Aseptic packaging of eggs:-

This is ready-to-eat canned egg product. The hard boiled and peeled eggs are fried in edible oil to light brown colour. The gravy is prepared by mixing and frying spices and condiments (garlic, ginger and onion) to suit salt. The peeled eggs and gravy are mixed in the ratio of 55:45 (±5 per cent), filled in lacquered metal cans leaving 1.5 cm head space, exhausted (to remove air) and hermetically sealed. The sealed cans are subsequently retorted (1kg/cm₂ pressure for about 20 min) to ensure sterilization of the product without burning or over cooking. The canned egg curry should have characteristic taste and flavour without any disintegration of eggs during one year of its storage life under ambient storage (Jhari Sahoo and Manish Kumar Chatli,2016).

Conclusion:-

Dramatic changes in lifestyle and food habits; massive growth of food processing industries have led to the promotion and commercial application of aseptic processing and packaging. It sterilizes the perishable food products by destroying spoilage and pathogenic microbes to provide safe and wholesome food to the consumers. It produces shelf stable food that requires no refrigeration. Aseptic packaging is particularly practiced for providing long shelf life, high seal integrity and consumer appeal.

References:

Ansari, I.A. and Datta, A.K. (2003). “An Overview of Sterilization Methods for Packaging Materials Used in Aseptic Packaging Systems”. Food and Bioproducts Processing. 81 (1): 57–65.

FDA (2018).”Aseptic Processing and Packaging for the Food Industry”. U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Fellows, P. (2000). Food Processing Technology. Principles and Practice. Abington, Cambridge, UK: Woodhead Publishing Limited.

Hersom, A.C. (2009). “Aseptic processing and packaging of food”. Food Reviews International. 1:2: 215–270.

Pearson, A.M. and Gillet, T.A. (1996). “PROCESSED MEATS”. An ASPEN PUBLICATION.

Singh, V.P. and Sachan, Neelam (2015). “Principles of Meat Technology”. New India Publishing Agency.

Sahoo, Jhari and Chatli, M.K. (2016). “Meat, Poultry and Fish Technology“. Daya Publishing House.

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