Reduced oxygen or not?
Hello,
We hot fill our soup around 79C (174F) into bags and the bags are sealed using a sealer. The sealer doesn't add or remove any gas from the bag. It's just a plain sealer. Based on my search, this creates a low oxygen environment. I am confused how that happens? Any clarification on this will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Kay
The environment in your sealed soup bag may constitute a low-oxygen environment for microaerobes, which are bacteria that thrive or survive in low-oxygen zones. Campylobacter is a microaerophilic bacteria which is known to be pathogenic to humans. A microaerobic (low-oxygen) environment can be as simple as the area in a liquid slightly below the surface, where oxygen levels are less than what is present in the outside air, but more than the very bottom of a container. Depending on your process, it may be wise to contact a process authority to understand exactly what risks are present in your soup and how to validate a process to mitigate them.
Is your product going to be frozen? Or refridgerated
Hello,
We hot fill our soup around 79C (174F) into bags and the bags are sealed using a sealer. The sealer doesn't add or remove any gas from the bag. It's just a plain sealer. Based on my search, this creates a low oxygen environment. I am confused how that happens? Any clarification on this will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Kay
Hi Kay,
It's "similar" to canning.
From GOOGLE -
Applying closure at high temperature is a critical step. Following the closure, cooling of the product will create a vacuum inside the container; providing an anaerobic condition unfavorable for aerobic microbial growth.
QED
Is your product going to be frozen? Or refridgerated
Both
From the FDA Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guide.
You may not be producing any seafood items but the concept should be similar to other products.
Reduced oxygen packaging
A number of conditions can result in the creation of a reduced oxygen environment in packaged fish and fishery products. They include:
• Vacuum, modified, or controlled atmosphere packaging. These packaging methods generally directly reduce the amount of
oxygen in the package;
• Packaging in hermetically sealed containers (e.g., double-seamed cans, glass jars with sealed lids, and heat-sealed plastic containers), or packing in deep containers from which the air is expressed (e.g., caviar in large containers), or packing in oil. These and similar processing and packaging
techniques prevent the entry of oxygen into the container.
Any oxygen present at the time of packaging (including oxygen that may be added during modified atmosphere packaging) may be rapidly depleted by the activity of spoilage bacteria, resulting in the formation of a reduced oxygen environment.