METHOD FOR PREVENTING FOOD PRODUCTS FROM DAMAGE Russian patent published in 2003 - IPC

FIELD: food-processing industry. SUBSTANCE: method involves placing food products into hermetically sealed gas-impermeable package and simultaneously placing containers of gas-impermeable material into package, with antiseptic and absorbent being placed into individual containers; removing air from package cavity and filling vacant space with inert gas; hermetically sealing package. Inert gas may be nitrogen, carbon dioxide or mixture of nitrogen (50-70%) and carbon dioxide (30-50%). Antiseptic may be ascorbic acid or acetylsalicylic acid or mixture of ascorbic acid and acetylsalicylic acid used at the rate of 0.01-20 mg of food product weight per 1 cu.cm of package volume. Absorbent may be molecular sieve or mixture of molecular sieves and activated carbon or mixture of calcium chloride and molecular sieves used at the rate of 1-30 mg of food product weight per 1 cu.cm of package volume. Molecular sieves are manufactured from activated carbon and silicon. Method allows food products including fruits and vegetables to be kept under proper conditions. EFFECT: prolonged shelf life of food products, in particular, products packaged for retail trade. 1 tbl