Evaluating the effect of modified atmosphere packaging on cheese characteristics: a review

Dairy products are an important food group highly suggested by nutritionists. This food category is one of the most perishable, so extending their shelf life and keeping them fresh for a longer period of time is a matter of importance. Since consumers are now more aware of the possible hazards of preservatives, technologists and researchers have attempted to introduce novel preservative-free methods instead. One of these techniques is modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), which alters the natural gas surrounding the product in the package in order to delay deteriorative changes. In this paper, a review is made on the field of cheese MAP. Reported results revealed the potentiality of MAP in increasing cheese sensorial and microbial shelf life by carefully designing for an individual cheese.