Global transit facilitates the fast transport of perishable goods and produce all over the world, meaning that products can be enjoyed by consumers many miles from their country of origin. This is process is extremely complex and storage conditions must be monitored continuously.
Image Credit: Environics, Inc.
Modified atmosphere gas mixers are vital components for this mode of transportation.
What is a Modified Atmosphere Gas Mixer?
Modified atmosphere gas mixers are devices used in food packaging to alter the atmosphere. They are a key component in ensuring good quality control, and making sure food is well-preserved and germfree.
How a product is handled throughout processing and packaging plays an important role in prolonging the shelf-life and sustaining food safety measures. Modified atmosphere gas packaging utilizes food-grade gases and unique packaging materials in order to facilitate an extended shelf-life and ensure good food quality.
Benefits of a Modified Atmosphere Gas Mixer
Modified atmosphere gas mixers help limit spoilage, prolonging the shelf-life by days or in some cases even weeks. Protective gas mixtures can protect the taste, texture, and appearance of food goods without impacting their nutritional content. Ultimately this translates to an increasingly secure and profitable global food supply chain.
What Gases are Used in Modified Atmosphere Gas Mixers?
Modified atmosphere gas mixtures are typically made up of three atmospheric gases: carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrogen (N₂), and oxygen (O₂). Carbon Dioxide being the most crucial of these gases, because it reduces the growth of microorganisms both within the packaging and inside the produce itself.
Nitrogen is used to substitute oxygen and reduce the degradation related to oxidation. Another benefit of Nitrogen is that it is a filler gas which ensures the packaging maintains its shape.
It is crucial to curb the oxygen content in modified atmosphere gas mixtures in order to prolong the shelf life as well as reducing the buildup of lactic acid and limiting the process of senescence.
Due to raw meat rapidly deteriorating when exposed to the atmosphere, modified atmosphere gas mixers are key for use in meat packaging. In meat packaging, atmospheric air is eliminated and substituted for a mixture of nitrogen, CO2, and low levels of CO to inhibit the growth of spoilage organisms while preventing the oxidization of lipids and proteins.
Modified atmosphere packaging with high CO2 is also better for insuring taste and flavor to those with high O2 quantities.
How can Environics Help?
Environics’ Series 3000 Gas Mixing and Delivery system is optimized for producing modified atmosphere gas mixtures. The system facilitates on-site gas mixing of 100% pure bulk gases, utilizing specific canisters of pure gases.
This can limit the costs associated with repeated purchasing of pre-prepared modified atmosphere gas mixtures.
With a repeatability of 0.05%, Environics’ system enable precise gas mixtures for modified atmosphere packaging applications unlike premixed cylinders. This is afforded by using precision thermal mass controllers, ensuring consistency from batch-to-batch in applications for high throughput food packaging.
Environics also specialize in computerized gas calibration to preserve the performance of atmosphere gas mixers that have been modified.
The Series 3000 supplies flexibility in tackling the needs of specific processes and markets. This facilitates tailor-made food packaging gas mixtures that meet the requirements of individual goods, while safeguarding the repeatability allows for welcome cost-savings and little wastage.
Environics’ systems blend and dilute gases automatically to create precise gas mixes. The Series 3000 supplies a positive pressure which can be closely managed to meet the needs of downstream processes. Configuration of the mixer can to turn on and off in relation to the demand for gas is also possible.
What’s more to ensure the quality and safety of the food packaging and that gas mixers are well maintained, an optional visual or audible alarm can also be integrated into the system. The Series 3000 is the optimal delivery system for any modified atmosphere gas mixer. Contact Environics today to discover more.
This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by Environics, Inc.
For more information on this source, please visit Environics, Inc.