New Superfresh Packaging Preserves Salmon for 20 Days
New packaging can keep salmon fresh for almost three weeks.
After extensive research, Nofima, the Norwegian Institute of Food, Fishery and Aquaculture, has established a packaging technique that allows salmon to stay fresh for up to 20 days. Dubbed “Superfresh,” fish packagers Vartdal Plastindustrier are launching the product at Brussels’ seafood fair this week.
In brief, Superfresh is a packaging form on which salmon is put on a CO2 emitter that consists of citric acid and baking powder, among other ingredients, and is vacuum packed before sealing. This packaging technique is known as MAP, or Modified Atmosphere Packaging. Using the Superfresh method, salmon can keep fresh for up to 20 days at a consistently low temperature, or between 10 and 12 days at four degrees above zero.
Superfresh Packaging Preserves Salmon
The initial research aimed to determine a packaging technique specifically intended for salmon and cod fillet, but the same method could also be used eventually for other fish types also meat.
Nofima’s Senior Research Scientist at Nofima, Marit Kvalvåg Pettersen, has been responsible for the research carried out over the past few years.
“After the pack is sealed, the cushion develops CO2 gas and it also has absorbent properties. This CO2 emitter has been adapted for the product, so that it does not change the fish’s pH value, and sensory tests have also shown that the fish often has a higher quality than with comparable packaging methods,” she said.
Extending Fresh life
The packaging is now primed for the consumer market, but also to be developed are transport packs. As well as shelf life extension, this packaging technique also has significant transportation benefits. The new technique obliges less volume and can be transferred with other food. A large amount of fish is still being shipped in ice boxes, creating more weight and volume.
There are numerous factors that hail Superfresh as a real innovation. Firstly, the packaging is tailored to the size and type of the fish, giving optimum quantity of CO2. Secondly, under ideal conditions (one degree above zero), salmon can keep for up to 20 days.
The Research Council of Norway financed the researched, through some of its programs including MAT and FORNY.
