Influence of oxygen transmission rate of packaging film on outgrowth of anaerobic bacterial spores

• Published in: Journal of aquatic food product technology 2005, Vol.14 (4), p.51-69
• Main Authors: Gnanaraj, J, Welt, B.A, Otwell, W.S, Kristinsson, H.G
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: anaerobes; Bacteria; bacterial contamination; botulism; Clostridium botulinum; Clostridium sporogenes; fish; food contamination; food packaging; modified atmosphere packaging; oxygen; package; packaging materials; permeability; plastic film; psychrotrophic bacteria; relative humidity; Seafood; seafoods; spore-forming bacteria; temperature
• ISSN: 1049-8850; 1547-0636
• DOI: 10.1300/J030v14n04_05

Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) has been applied to many food products, particularly respiring horticultural products. For non-respiring products, such as meat and seafood, reduced oxygen environments have been shown to preserve product quality. Recent efforts by seafood manufacturers to employ reduced oxygen packaging (ROP) for fresh fish have been halted by the Food and Drug Administration's import alert # 16-125, which specifies a minimum film permeability of 10,000 cc/m 2 /day for hermetically sealed fresh seafood. The purpose of this work was to determine the impact of package area and factors related to oxygen transmission rate (OTR) on anaerobic spore outgrowth. Studies were conducted to determine effects of temperature and relative humidity on OTR of commercially available packaging films (Clysar 60 HGPF, Clysar 75 HGPF, AET PST2-060 and Cryovac BDF1000). Three films with wide OTR range were selected to study effects of package area on outgrowth of Clostridium sporogenes spores. Films were converted into packages with different areas (0.083 and 0.325 m 2 ). Inoculated petri dishes were packed in nitrogen flushed bags and incubated at 10 to 35°C. Oxygen concentrations were measured in growth media and headspace. Oxidation reduction potentials (ORP) of media were measured before and after incubation. It was found that package area, within limits of practicality, was insufficient to modify spore outgrowth behavior. However, results suggest an interesting hypothesis that packaging film OTR is related to a key window of time in which outgrowth is more likely to occur, which may be exploited during distribution. Results should be confirmed using psychrotrophic Clostridium botulinum.