Oxygen Scavengers

1. Advantage
 Used to protect the food product from the oxidation
of its constituent
 In dairy, especially fat rich products( like ghee,butter,
cream etc ) are more prone to oxidation. So it has a
great scope in dairy
 Inhibits mold growth in natural cheeses and other
fermented dairy products
 Markets can be extended for global distribution due
to prolong shelf life
 Helps retain fresh-roasted flavor of coffee and nuts
 Prevents oxidation of spice oleoresins present in
spices themselves and in seasoned foods
 Prevents oxidation of vitamins A, C and E
 Extends life of pharmaceuticals
 Delays non-enzymatic browning of fruits and some
vegetables
  Sachet is one of the first promising technology for
oxygen scavenger. Since it is an applied packet,
there’s very little disruption to the package
production line
 Oxygen Scavenging film is a more emerging
packaging as the benefit of this technology is that the
reactants can often be integrated within the various
layers of packaging like- adhesive, printing ink,
lacquer, or enamel as done with cans
 Inhibits oxidation and condensation of red pigment of
most berries and sauces
 Protect products from spoilage aerobic micro-
organism
 It also help to reduce the waste of packed food
products
 Oxygen scavenging technology can quickly reduce
oxygen levels in sealed containers to below 0.01%
which is very less as compare to using gas flushing or
modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) technology
reduced only upto between 0.5% and 5%

2. Disadvantage
 Most sachet oxygen scavengers do not active , when
water is absent, thus potentially causing quality
issues in the products
 It also decline the quality of the dry food products
rapidly because of the migration of water from
the oxygen scavenger into the food.
 If iron dust is used as oxygen scavenger then we
cannot pass the food product through metal detector
which is an essential step from safety point of
consumer
 Except iron dust ,other substances used as oxygen
scavengers are costly
 Affect the food marketing due to increase in food
price
 When we used oxygen scavenger packaging then
their should be proper prevention of anaerobic
pathogen proliferation
 Some pathogens like Clostridium botulinum Type E
survive in this environment
 Their is a chance that the sachet is leak as even it is
not harmful for the human body but it cause
adulteration in the food product which directly affects
the natural Organoleptic qualities of the product like
taste, texture etc
Moisture Scavengers

1. Advantages
 Reduce the microbial spoilage of the food products
 Reduce the enzymatic and chemical changes which
affect the texture, appearance and body of the food
product
 Reduce the chances of mold growth and increase
the shelf life of the food product
 Decrease in moisture condensation inside the
products
 Until, it is mainly used in pharmaceutical industry
such as packaging of inhalation powders
 In dairy industry, we can use it for the packaging of
various types of milk powder like SMP, WMP,
Infant milk powder etc
 It has a great scope in the dairy industry
 Help to reduce many defects in milk powder during
storage like lumps formation etc
  Maintain the quality of the food product and this also
help us to reduce the packed food wastage

2. Disadvantage
 It increase the cost of food product in the market
 Until it is not widely accepted in the food indutry
 In dairy industry, it is not frequently used due to its
high cost
 It also affect the demand of packed food products
especially in developing country
 Special attention to be given during the packaging of
food product because desiccant (bags) should not
placed in the direct contact of the food
 Packaging machine use for this type packing is more
costly than the normal

Ethylene Absorbent
1. Advantage
 Helps in long storage of fruits and vegetables
 Help to make the availability of nearly all fruits and
vegetables in every season
 Reduce the wastage of food
 Maintain the market price of fruits and vegetables
 Eliminates decay, mold, discoloration, wilting,
softening, scald, loss of crunch and many other
negative effects caused by ethylene gas.
 Use during Post-harvest handling to slow down the
ripening process of fruits, vegetables and flowers.
 Use during domestic and international shipments
traveling via ocean, truck, rail and air.
 Non-toxic, chemically inert, can be disposed of as
normal waste.

2. Disadvantage
 Increase the price of the stored fruits and vegetables
than the normal stored
 It affect the natural firmness of the fruits and
vegetables
 It also affect the ascorbic acid content of fruits as in
‘Starking Delicious’ apples with ethylene absorbent
retained higher ascorbic acid as compared to
 untreated one which affect the body and texture of
the apples
 Increase the cost of packaging material
 Trained labour is required for all the operations so
this increase the overall cost of the product

Antioxidants releasing system

Advantages
 Improve the oxidative stability of the food products
 Increase the shelf of the products
 Protect the product from oxidative rancidity
especially fat rich products like ghee, butter, oils etc
 It has a great scope in dairy as well as in food
industry
 Consumption of anti-oxidants in food is beneficial as
they eliminate the free radicals from food otherwise
if these free radicals goes in human body through
food ,they are responsible for various diseases
 Effective in prevention of degenerative illnesses,
such as different types of cancers, cardiovascular and
neurological diseases, cataracts and oxidative stress
dysfunctions
 They are safe from safety and consumption point of
view of consumers
 There are many antioxidants which are naturally
occured in nature like tocopherol( vit. E), essential
oils, polyphenols etc

Disadvantages
 It is very difficult to control the accurate releasing
rate of antioxidants through the packaging material to
the food products
 Selection of suitable packaging material is very
difficult for any particular food
 Increase the cost of packaging material also rise the
price of the product in the market
 It not only affects the market demand of the product
but also the profit of the producer
 Some antioxidants are not naturally occurring i.e
synthetic
 Highly educated and trained persons are required for
this type of operation or packaging so more
investments is required

Carbon dioxide emitting

Advantage
 They produce CO2 inside the packaging after sealing
it.
 Relatively high CO2 levels (60 to 80%) inhibit
microbial growth on surfaces and, in turn, prolong
shelf life of packed food
 Facilitate smaller packaging size
 It is an economical technology
 By using CO2 emitters we can pack the product in
100% CO2


Disadvantage
 The permeability of CO2 is 3 to 5 times higher than
that of O2 in most plastic films, it must be
continuously produced to maintain the desired
concentration within the package
 High CO2 levels cause changes in taste of some
products thereby useful only in certain applications
such as fresh meat, poultry, fish and cheese
packaging
 Insufficient to retard the growth of Staphylococcus
aureus, Vibrio species, Escherichia coli, Bacillus
cereus and Enterococcus faecalis at ambient
temperatures

Antimicrobial releasing
system

Advantages
 Improve the microbiological stability of the food
products
 Reduce the chance of toxin production in the food
 Help to maintain the quality of the food product
 Increase the shelf life of the food and also decrease
the wastage of food
 Reduce the chances of food poisoning
 Good step towards the food safety point
 They increase the packed food acceptability among
the consumers
 Lactic acid bacteria produced several antimicrobial
compounds which affect and kill the intestinal
pathogens so this also provide a therapeutic effect in
the humans
 They help to control the post processing
contamination in the food product if accidentally take
place due to human or machine errors

2. Disadvantage
 In fermented products, they affect the growth of
starter culture due to which body and texture of
the product is affected
 Increase the cost of the product which somewhat
decreases their market demand
 In rural areas, people have many misconceptions
that these are chemicals which have negative
effect on health so they avoid the use of packed
food products
 If their quantity is higher in the food then they
kill the probiotic culture (good for health) of the
food which is undesirable
 Affect the indigenous flora of the food, due to
which natural flavour and aroma of the product
is altered