This page is an exerpt from:
Use of Oxygen Absorbers in Dry Pack Canning
A research paper by:
Albert E. Purcell
Theodore C. Barber
John Hal Johnson
At the Benson Quality Assurance Laboratory
Department of Food Science and Nutrition
Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
Table 1: Key to Table 2
Name Description
---------------------------------------------------
Blank Air sealed in a #10 can (No product)
Fresh Air + Fresh packet (Exposed less than 5 min)
X Air + Exposed packet (Exposed 4 hours)
O Product sealed in can with no packet
Milk O Dried Milk only
Milk Fresh Dried Milk + Fresh packet
Milk X Dried Milk + Exposed Packet
Mac O Macaroni Only
Mac Fresh Macaroni + Fresh packet
Mac X Macaroni + Exposed Packet
Table 2: OXYGEN AND NITROGEN CONTENT OF SAMPLES AT THREE DIFFERENT TIMES
------------------------------------------------------------
% of O2 | % of N2
--------- | ---------
48 1 2 | 48 1 2
Sample hours week weeks | hours week weeks
|
Fresh 0.70 0.42 0.43 | 98.36 98.65 98.65
X 2.27 0.40 0.90 | 98.74 98.67 98.55
Mac O 20.05 20.18 19.98 | 79.11 78.81 79.19
Mac X... 0.42... 0.42 0.42 | 98.64 98.20 98.66
Mac Fresh 0.45 0.41 0.41 | 98.63 98.66 98.65
Milk O 20.33 19.99 20.14 | 78.72 79.02 78.99
Milk X 0.50 0.43 0.27 | 98.57 98.63 98.62
Milk Fresh 0.48 0.44 0.43 | 98.59 98.63 99.27
Conclusions:
Oxygen absorbing packets are effective in reducing oxygen contents in sealed cans. The ageless Z300 packet has a greater than claimed capacity for absorbing oxygen. Packets abused by 4 hour-exposure-to-air still exceed claimed capacity. It may be economical to use smaller packets based on the dead air volume instead of can volume. Smaller packets would have less tolerance for abuse and personnel would need to be more diligent in protecting the packets.
The level of oxygen remaining in the presence of the absorber packets is sufficiently low to greatly retard development of rancidity. The biological consequences are not so easy to predict. Microorganisms range from aerobic to anaerobic, thus no unqualified statement can be made. The energy requirements of anaerobic bacteria are met by reactions between oxygen and more than one other molecule. This makes bacterial energy a higher order of reaction than rancidity. Thus, the rate of bacterial aerobic reaction would be more seriously retarded than rancidity. These matters are not of practical importance because the products to be canned should be too dry to support microbial growth. Insects are aerobic and would likewise suffer retardation of activity. No comprehensive statement can be made about irreversible inactivation or death of insects. As long as the oxygen level remains low, insect activity will be lower by at least the square root of oxygen content. In a practical sense, these packets are effective in stopping insect activity. USDA does not recognize any method except disintegration as effective for completely killing insect eggs.
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