Improvement of the microbiological safety and shelf-life of selected chilled meals by gamma irradiation

There is a growing interest to market semi-prepared and prepared meals, eventually packaged in modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and distributed under chilled conditions instead of frozen state. Such products are less energy-demanding and more attractive for the consumers than frozen meals. However, they are non-sterile and potential survival of some pathogenic microorganisms and/or post-processing contamination before packaging create microbiological risks and a considerable limitation of shelf-life, especially under abusive temperature conditions, frequently occurring during retail display period and home storage. The objective of our research contract work was the demonstration of the technological feasibility of preventing the above risk by gamma irradiation of commodities such as a reconstituted breaded turkey breast meat with cheese and ham filling (called 'Cordon Bleu'), filled pasta products (a European type: 'Tortellini', and a Syrian type 'Kouba'), and 'sous vide' (mixed vegetables)