MAP

Food doesn't stay fresh forever and several factors cause its microbial and organoleptic spoilage when exposed to air.

After refrigeration and freezing, the first key technology that has been developed to slow down food spoilage processes to keep food attractive and edible for as long as possible was MAP.

Tray sealing Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) is the packaging system that involves modifying the gaseous atmosphere surrounding food placed in a tray inside an hermetic pack with headspace, and using packaging materials with adequate level of gas barrier to maintain the changed atmosphere at an acceptable level over time for food preservation.

During the MAP process, air is removed and replaced by a mixture of natural gases (typically CO2, N2, O2) in carefully controlled proportions that significantly slows down the process of decay by inhibiting processes of oxidation and the growth of microbes with the purpose of extending freshness and shelf-life of the packed food product.

The type and proportion of gas used in the packaging is largely dictated by the type of food in the package and the sort of decay or change that the food undergoes

MAP extends the shelf life of fresh food products from a few days to 1, maximum 2 weeks depending on food products and process. This has enabled the creation of centralised food packaging centres which deliver case-ready packs ready to be displayed in store for the retail industry.

Foods typically packed in MAP range from fresh proteins, to smoked and proceed meat, dairy, fruit and vegetables, ready meals, snacks, etc.

Thanks to G.Mondini's cutting edge tray sealing engineering, we provide MAP solutions with vacuum gas application which allow us to reach residual O2 level as low as 0,1% and ecoMAP gas flush technology which reduce tooling complexity delivering maximum speed, efficiency and optimised gas consumption, with a fastest cycle speed.