By using approx. 80% oxygen and 20% carbon dioxide we are experiencing grey edges within a few hours, no matter how fresh slaughtered. We receive the veal under vacuum and are using a hard shell bottom 150µ and a plastic layer on top 50µ. Thanks for your help!
I know it is a annoying/stupid question: have you checked the permeability to oxygen and whether the sealing is perfectly correct?
The product is packaged with bone, isn't it?
I knew this question would come, thanks anyway. ;) Yes, we checked the sealing and we use this packaging material also for beef and pork, where we don't experience discoloration. So the permeability should be fine, too. Maybe the conditions for veal are in general different from beef and pork?
The product is without bone.
I do not have the personal experience with veal, but in some papes from Italian groups a few years ago, they showed better redness and color stability with (as far as I remember) around 45/50% O2, as compared to 80%O2, in which they could see discolouration after a couple of days (but some hours sounds like too fast to me).
On top of that, there could be an effect of the lower reductase activity in veal (it is lower in beef as compared to pork), and perhaps already during the vacuum packaging you have got rid of it in the more exposed to oxygen areas (edges). Have you tried about using veal that has not been previously vacuum packaged? (just to check in which extent the vacuum package process/storage might be partially responsible of that)
it may be that an oxidation inhibitor in combination with MAPackaged (80% oxygen/20% carbon dioxide ) veal may be helpful in extending the color-life of veal. In our MAPackaging studies, carbon dioxide is an important (antimicrobial) component in the gas mixture. Additionally I think of young veal as having a relatively low [Mbg} so (as alluded to by Jorge) the 80/20 ratios may need to be adjusted for veal, which may require a mixture of oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen.
please leave a picture of pack before and after discoloration here. it may be helpful to find the answer.
Thanks for your answers so far! I'm going to test the packaging with your advices now and Keep you informed.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Medicine
- Nutrition and Dietetics
- Nutritional Medicine
- Food Science