There is growing interest in centralized preparation of retail-ready meat cuts for distribution to widely dispersed retail stores due to the convenience of having high-quality ready-to-go products that are consistently provided to consumers at lower cost. Various centralized packaging techniques are described. Of all packaging techniques, master packaging is the most economical and shows promise for commercial application. Nevertheless, the master-packaging technique must be integrated with strict temperature control in a narrow range just above freezing (-1.5±0.5 deg. C), good processing hygiene, and maintenance of a completely anoxic atmosphere in the package headspace throughout the distribution period to maximize storage life.
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