Modified atmosphere packaging of fish - an impact on shelf life

The shelf life of fresh fish is short. Therefore, the fishing industry has always been willing to explore new technologies for shelf life extension. This paper will focus on one such technique, i.e., changing the nature of the gas surrounding the fish. The main purposes of modified atmosphere packaging of fish and fish products, but also other foodstuffs, are two-fold: to ensure the microbiological shelf life and the sensory quality of the product, including the colour, odour and palatability. During the last two decades, modified atmosphere packaging has become a dominant retail fish packaging technology. The main reasons for the development of modified atmosphere packaging are the continuous increase in fresh fish consumption, increases of urban populations and exhaustion of natural food resources. Developments in packaging materials and technologies have made the application of modified atmosphere packaging on a larger scale for fish and fish products feasible. In this paper, we present the basic principles of modified atmosphere packaging of fish, and the microbiological, sensory, chemical and physicochemical parameters that are important for the shelf life of fish packaged using this technology.