Faerch Plast: New Absorber Extends Shelf Life and Reduces Wastage of Fresh Meat

A new type of absorber has made its way to Faerch Plast’s trays for fresh meat. The new absorber, placed underneath the packaged meat, limits bacteria growth while enabling the meat to better retain its juices. This extends the shelf life of fresh meat by 1-2 days and keeps the meat attractive right up to the expiration date.

13 Nov 2013 --- Færch Plast A/S recently concluded an agreement with Paper Pak Industries (PPI) regarding use of the PPI UltraZap XtendaPak absorber in Faerch Plast’s trays for fresh meat.

“The special feature of this new absorber is that it is activated when the packaged meat begins releasing juices on about the third day. The absorber then slowly emits CO2 over several days, keeping the bacterial level low and improving the meat’s ability to retain its juices. This not only keeps the meat fresh, but also fresh in appearance, right up to the expiration date,” says Joe Iannidinardo, Managing Director of Faerch Plast’s UK operation.

Extensive testing in the laboratory and by customers has shown that this reduction in bacterial formation can extend shelf life by 1-2 days for fresh meat and likely even longer for fish – provided, of course, that the meat’s initial quality, product flow and cold chain are up to standard.

This significant extension could have an important impact on the amount of discarded meat. Figures from the Institute of Food and Resource Economics show that retail stores in Denmark discard approx. 2,000 tons of meat annually, at a value of approx. DKK 73 million.

“It is great news that we can now offer our customers trays with a PPI absorber. This provides a number of benefits for producers and retailers and we have a strong expectation that the absorber will reduce wastage and extend shelf life, which is a major focus area for retailers at the moment,” says Joe Iannidinardo.

Although the functionality of the PPI absorber is better than existing products on the market, it looks the same and will therefore seem familiar to customers when the new absorbers appear in Faerch Plast’s packaging trays.

“We are now ready to launch PPI absorbers in England, and we look forward to putting the first absorbers in our trays,” concludes Joe Iannidinardo.

The PPI absorber is produced by American Paper Pak Industries, which invented the absorber in 1960. PPI is now one of the leaders in this field, with the UltraZap XtendaPak absorber as its top product. Faerch Plast has been granted sales rights to the product in Great Britain.

PPI’s UltraZap XtendaPak is a patented product and approved by the EU.

This feature is provided by Food Ingredients First’s sister website, Packaging Insights.

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