Since more and more pressure is exerted to reduce the use of plastic packaging materials, optimizing the use of food packaging is opportune. The aim of this study was to evaluate the combined effect of packaging materials, spanning a range of oxygen transmission rates (OTR), and retail illumination, on the microbial shelf life and safety of refrigerated ready‐to‐heat foods. Cooked potato slices were packaged in OPA/PP bags with a high OTR (28.85 ccO₂/m²/d) and OPA‐EVOH/PP bags with a low OTR (6.57 ccO₂/m²/d). Cooked composite meals were packaged in tray and foil combinations, also spanning a range of OTR: PP trays (2.09 ccO₂/tray/d) with OPA/PP foils (28.85 ccO₂/m²/d), PP trays with OPA‐EVOH/PP (6.57 ccO₂/m²/d) foils, and PET trays (0.07 ccO₂/tray/d) with PET top foil (32.86 ccO₂/m²/d) . The packages were stored in a dark environment, or under fluorescent or LED light. Due to the rapid growth of lactic acid bacteria, the microbial shelf life of both food products was largely unaffected by the type of barrier. Illumination at 1000 lux for 12 hours per day led to temperature differences significantly affecting microbial growth. Based on the results, it could be concluded that re‐evaluating packaging material choices for these foods may prove valuable, since the use of high‐barrier multilayer packaging materials may be considered as a case of overpackaging.

中文翻译：

---

包装中的氧气透过率对冷藏和照明储存过程中易受后污染影响的即食食品保质期的影响

由于施加越来越多的压力以减少塑料包装材料的使用，因此优化食品包装的使用是适当的。这项研究的目的是评估包装材料（跨多种氧气传输速率（OTR）和零售照明）对冷藏即食食品的微生物保质期和安全性的综合影响。将煮熟的马铃薯切片包装在OTR高（28.85 ccO ₂ / m ² / d）的OPA / PP袋和OTR低（6.57 ccO ₂ / m ² / d）的OPA-EVOH / PP袋中。煮熟的复合粉被包装成托盘和铝箔的组合，也跨越了一系列的OTR：PP托盘（2.09 ccO ₂ /托盘/天）和OPA / PP箔（28.85 ccO ₂ / m ^2）/ d），带有OPA-EVOH / PP（6.57 ccO ₂ / m ² / d）箔的PP托盘和带有PET顶部箔纸（32.86 ccO ₂ / m ² / d）的PET托盘（0.07 ccO ₂ /托盘/ d） 。这些包装存放在黑暗的环境中，或在荧光灯或LED灯下。由于乳酸菌的快速生长，两种食品的微生物货架期在很大程度上不受屏障类型的影响。每天以1000 lux照明12小时会导致温度差异，从而严重影响微生物的生长。基于结果，可以得出结论，重新评估这些食品的包装材料选择可能被证明是有价值的，因为使用高阻隔多层包装材料可能被认为是过度包装的情况。