The effect of sustainable vacuum packaging selection on the quality, colour stability, and freshness of lamb meat stored chilled for up to 20 weeks

Storage period and packaging type effects on lamb meat were investigated using 384 longissimus lumborum muscles (LL), randomly allocated to 8 storage periods (Week 0, 1, 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, and 20; −1.2 ± 1.1 °C) and 4 packaging types (PACK 1, Eco-tite® Recycle Ready Shrink Bag; PACK 2, Cryovac® Barrier Shrink Bag; PACK 3, a foil pouch; and PACK 4, Biovac™ Recyclable Vacuum Pouch). Analysis demonstrated few storage period effects on lamb meat quality. Shear force was perceivably reduced after Week 1 (P  0.05). The packaging effects on meat quality were somewhat limited to PACK 3. Differences in water holding capacity was most apparent between PACK 1–2 and PACK 3–4, the latter having the highest amount of water loss (P  log 7 CFU/g for any treatment combination. TVB-N concentrations increased between Weeks 1–14 (P  15 mg/100 g. Lamb meat stored for > 6 weeks became unacceptably discoloured (based on a* and brownness indices) increasingly sooner into the 3 d retail display period. These findings support a longer shelf-life for chilled lamb meat.