Page 43 - FoodFocusThailand No.199 October 2022

SPECIAL FOCUS

freshness indicator, time-temperature indicator (TTI), and properties (for products that require a high degree of protection).
integrity indicator. The freshness indicator reacts to target Bioactive compounds, generally in the forms of essential oil
metabolites or substances indicating the product’s freshness or crude extract, from herbs or plant wastes such as cinnamon,
or spoilage, such as ethanol, ammonia, and sulphuric turmeric, green tea, and citrus peel are being utilized as
compounds, giving the consumers the product’s current antimicrobial agents and antioxidants to improve safety and
condition. The most widely utilized freshness indicator or target maintain the quality of raw meat and poultry, as well as processed
compound pair for meat products is bromothymol blue pH dye meat products. While most of their feasibilities are still being
and carbon dioxide generated by microorganisms. TTI, e.g., evaluated for commercial uses, a few are already available in
Evigence sensors , OnVu , and Vitsab indicates potential the market, for example, Wasapower and Wasaouro , which
TM
®
TM
TM
TM
time and/or temperature abuse as the product moves through are antimicrobial agents from wasabi extract.
the supply chain. Most TTI for food products are relatively rPlastic: In the past few years, there has been both interest
inexpensive and often included in packaging systems for chilled and concern in using recycled plastics (rPlastics) as food contact
and frozen meats. Oxygen indicators like Ageless Eye and materials. The plastic recycling process can be classified into 3
TM
Atco are utilized as integrity indicators (or leak indicators) for different approaches, i.e., primary, secondary, and tertiary. The
®
MAP to monitor the performance of the packaging system and primary recycling process uses pre-consumer industrial scrap
alert users in the case of leakage. and salvage (which have not been in contact with any food
Biodegradable material, edible film, and bioactive products) to form new packaging. The secondary recycling
compound: To reduce the use of typical plastics, paper, and process is physical reprocessing (e.g., grinding and melting) and
other biobased, biodegradable materials such as poly (Butylene reformation of post-consumer plastic packaging materials (which
succinate or PBS), poly (Lactic acid), or polylactide (PLA), had been in contact with food products and discarded as wastes).
chitosan, and (Modified) starches, as well as edible coatings The tertiary recycling process, the most technologically advanced
and films, have been increasingly incorporated into or selected process, involves subjecting post-consumer plastic packaging
as a packaging system for meat and poultry. to chemical treatment in order to depolymerize plastic into
However, their applications are still either limited or in the monomers and then repolymerize them into plastic resin to be
research stage due to high production and/or material cost, used in the production of plastic packaging. Since several
lack of durability (for long shelf-life products), and low barrier purification steps are installed in the regeneration process

OCT 2022 FOOD FOCUS THAILAND 43

36-44_Special Focus_Meat_Aj Siriyupha.indd 43 22/9/2565 BE 17:28
22/9/2565 BE 17:28
36-44_Special Focus_Meat_Aj Siriyupha.indd 43