FACT SHEET Modifi Ed Atmosphere Packaging

Case-Ready Meats FACT SHEET Modifi ed Atmosphere Packaging

Overview market and not a large carcass that includes cuts that don’t sell as well. • Case-ready products arrive ready to go into the In the fi rst half of the century, fresh meat was case and don’t require additional cutt ing or pro- processed into carcasses and sent to retail stores, where cessing. the carcasses were cut and packaged. In the 1960s, meat • Because these packages are produced and pack- packers began off ering “boxed beef” or “boxed meats.” aged at the plant, they have longer shelf lives than Instead of receiving full carcasses, retail stores could meat packaged in the retail store, which generally order portions of the carcass (called “primals” and lasts about one to fi ve days aft er it is opened, cut “sub-primals”) that were already vacuum-packaged and repackaged. and boxed. • Case-ready products allow retail stores to man- age inventory more eff ectively and reduce “out of This innovation made distribution easier because stocks,” which are frustrating to consumers. boxed could be stacked and handled more easily than • Case-ready products allow retail stores to control full carcasses. The process of vacuum packaging the unit costs, provide consistent products every day individual cuts made it much easier for manufacturers and key meat prices competitive with other foods. to control product aging so that meat products would arrive at the consumer’s table at the proper time and For consumers, case-ready meats also off er distinct not before the proper amount of aging had occurred. benefi ts: It also made meat easier to handle at the retail level. In fact, the trend sparked an evolution into what we now • Many case-ready meats are packaged in tamper- call “case-ready” meat. proof packages, which can off er consumers additional measure of confi dence. Case-ready meats are packaged at plants and • Case-ready packaging is leak-proof and easily delivered to retailers ready to be placed in the retail stackable in refrigerators and freezers. case. Unlike meat cut at the retail store – which carries • Fewer human hands touch case-ready meats only a retail brand – case-ready fresh meats carry a because they are produced and packaged in a plan wide array of brands, which encourages companies to under the oversight of federal inspectors from the produce products that meat the highest possible safety U.S. Department of Agriculture. and quality standards. Now, fresh products are readily • Because these products are oft en branded, con- identifi able and consumers can purchase the brands sumers can easily identify products for which they they like repeatedly, just as they’ve come to do with have developed a loyalty based upon individual processed products like lunch meats, bacon and hot tastes and features, which makes purchasing deci- dogs for decades. sions easier. • Case-ready processing and packaging allows for Case-ready meats are following the example of precise control of product aging, which can en- chicken, which has been sold packaged at the plant and hance the consumer eating experience. bearing a brand name for decades. • Low-oxygen packaging of case-ready allows for the elimination of oxygen, which causes off -fl a- Retailers sold an estimated 1.2 billion packages vors, off -color and off -odor. in 2000, more than double the number sold in 1997. Industry experts see the potential to sell nine billion packages. The Science of Consumer Benefi ts Ready Packaging Case-ready meats are typically sold in one of For retailers, case-ready meats off er numerous two ways: vacuum packaged, in which the plastic benefi ts: packaging fi ts snugly around the meat and oxygen is “vacuumed out” or in modifi ed atmosphere packaging • Retail stores can order thee cuts that sell in their (MAP).

American Meat Institute 1150 Connecticut Avenue, NW • 12th Floor • Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 587-4200 • fax (202) 587-4300 • http://www.MeatAMI.com AMI Fact Sheet: Case-Ready Meats/Modifi ed Atmosphere Packaging

Case Ready Penetration By Species Based on Package Counts

2004 2007

100% 97% 95% 94% 95%

90%

80%

70% 66% 67% 65% 60% 60% 60% 56%

50% 51% 50% 47%

40% 37%

30% 27% 23% 20%

10%

0% Beef Ground Beef Pork Veal Lamb Chicken Turkey Total

Vacuum packaging removes all oxygen from meat Pamounts in fresh beef and pork packages was given products, which prevents oxidation of the product. “Generally Recognized as Safe” (or GRAS) status by Oxidation can lead to a decline in ﬂ avor and color the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The levels of and can prompt an odor around the product. Vacuum CO permitt ed are actually less than the level permitt ed packaged products appear in their “true” color, a dark by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the air reddish-purple for beef and a dark pink for pork. we breathe.

Consumer response to this natural color has not Low-oxygen MAP is another method used to always been favorable, however, because many equate package beef and pork products. The process utilizes bright red beef or bright pink pork with freshness. a combination of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and carbon Some retailers have moved to vacuum packaged monoxide and maintains the color of the product beef and pork with great success through a detailed consumers expect. Nitrogen is an inert gas that consumer education program. Aside from providing functions to fi ll headspaces in the package. Carbon a signifi cantly longer shelf life of the product, vacuum dioxide is added for its antimicrobial properties and packaging also eliminates freezer burn. carbon monoxide stabilizes the typical red or pink color of air-exposed meat. The benefi ts of removing oxygen Modifi ed atmosphere packages (MAP) are from carbon monoxide-MAP packages are similar to tamper-proof packages that leave a space between the that of vacuum packaging. meat on the tray and the top of the package. Various combinations of gases can be added to this space, Both oxygen and carbon monoxide maintain the including oxygen, nitrogen, carbon monoxide and pigments of meat in the characteristic red (beef) or pink carbon dioxide. These are fl ushed into the package at (pork) color, which is oft en referred to as “bloom.” very specifi c ratios in order to achieve a desired eff ect. The use of high-oxygen MAP has been widely used The specifi c atmospheric gases used in MAP have a in the marketplace because of the desirable color that long history of safe use in food packaging. is caused by the oxygen-rich environments. However, the shelf life of these systems is signifi cantly shorter In 2002, the use of carbon monoxide in very small because the presence of oxygen negatively aff ects

© June 2009 American Meat Institute AMI Fact Sheet: Case-Ready Meats/Modifi ed Atmosphere Packaging quality traits, such as fl avor, color and odor. oxygen. However, when the meat comes into contact with oxygen, it turns a bright red, which is referred to Processors use a variety of gas combination as “bloom.” strategies, including high-oxygen, low-oxygen, or vacuum packaging. The packaging format chosen Oxidation – Oxidation refers to chemical reactions depends on a variety of factors such as tray or package that occur in the presence of oxygen. Just like paint on confi guration, meat cut type and size, distribution a car can “oxidize” and become faded or dull, a sliced life required, retail case-life required, consumer apple or fresh red meat oxidizes in the presence of air expectations and cost. No one particular system fi ts all and becomes brown in color. Oxidation also leads to of the needs in the marketplace. development of off -fl avor and off -odors, known as rancidity.

Availability Value-Added – Some case-ready products are also referred to as “value-added” products because adding A 2004 study conducted by the Cryovac Division, marinades, stuﬃ ng or other valuable ingredients has Sealed Air Corporation, the National Catt lemen’s Beef enhanced them. In some cases, these products are Association and the National Pork Board assessed raw and need to be cooked thoroughly. In other cases, case-ready product in meat cases across the country. companies are providing partially cooked or fully The National Meat Case Study found that case-ready cooked heat-and-eat products, like precooked pot products have grown to 60 percent of the meat case. roasts that need only be heated through. This is up from 49 percent in 2002. The chart on the previous page shows the break down by species. Glossary of Terms

Aging – The process of holding meat cuts for a controlled period of time aft er harvest to allow for Helpful Links proper development of fl avor and improvement of tenderness. American Meat Institute htt p://www.meatami.com Boxed Meat – Meat that is cut down from the htt p://www.meatsafety.org original carcass into portions called primals and sub-primals. The cuts are then vacuum-packaged and boxed. These proportions are further cut down upon Third-Party Experts arrival at retail stores and restaurants. Melvin Hunt, Ph.D. Case-ready – The broad term for any meat that is Professor packaged in a meat processing plant and ready to be Department of Animal Sciences and Industry placed directly into display cases upon arrival at a Kansas State University retail store. [email protected] (785) 532-1232 Vacuum Packaged – These products are sold in a tightly sealed packaging where air has been Daren Cornforth, Ph.D. “vacuumed out.” The removal of oxygen-rich air Professor extends shelf life; however, it causes meat to appear in Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences its natural color: purple. Utah State University [email protected] Modifi ed atmosphere packaging – Products sold (435) 797-2114 “case-ready” are oft en sold in packages that have been designed to contain unique mixtures of various Joseph G. Sebranek gases. This process can help to maintain fl avor, color Professor and odor and can prevent spoilage. Certain gases are Department of Animal Sciences anti-microbial. Iowa State University [email protected] Bloom – Meat is naturally purple in the absence of (515) 294-1091