ABSTRACT

The deterioration of packaged foods depends largely on transfers that may occur between the internal environment inside the package, and the external environment that is exposed to the hazards of storage and distribution. The development of an analytical approach to food packaging is strongly recommended, and to achieve this successfully, a good understanding of food safety and quality is required. The more important of these is without question food safety, which is the freedom from harmful chemical or microbial contaminants at the time of consumption. The major quality attributes of foods are texture, flavor, color, appearance, and nutritive value and these attributes can all undergo undesirable changes during processing and storage. The term “food quality” has a variety of meanings to professionals in the food industry, but the ultimate arbiters of food quality must be consumers. Shelf stable foods are considered “nonperishable” at room temperatures.