OXICOOK – Strategies to minimize waste of packaged sliced ​​cooked meat products

OXICOOK is a project that aims to provide strategies to minimize the waste of packaged sliced ​​cooked meat products. The project will minimize food waste from cooked meat products, thus providing greater resource efficiency and waste reduction.

The innovative pilot project, which is planned to last two years, will allow the development of   more robust sliced ​​cooked meat products   by combining strategies that include   product formulation  ,   material selection   and  adaptation   , and   packaging parameters   to   ensure color stability   throughout the product’s marketing.   This will prevent waste of the products on display  . All this without affecting   food safety  ,   shelf life, or sensory characteristics,   thanks to the addition of bioprotective cultures and/or ingredients with antioxidant potential.

To make this possible, a multi-sector consortium has been created, involving the various stakeholders involved. The operational group includes members of the agri-food industry value chain, with Carinsa as the operational group leader, and La Selva, Monells, and NOEL as beneficiary members—producers and packers in the meat industry—and also includes players from the packaging sector value chain, such as Enplater, TPL, Kao Chimigraf, ULMA, and Multivac. All of these companies benefit from collaborative technological research with the Institute of Agri-Food Research and Technologies (IRTA) and have the support of Bon Preu Esclat and Almendro Origen as specialized food establishments. Also participating are associations and business groups, with the Packaging Cluster as project coordinator, and Hispack and FECIC as communication support entities.

To achieve this objective, the following objectives have been proposed: first,   to diagnose the current initial situation of sliced ​​cooked meat products on retail shelves  , that is, to study the products of interest in the project in the European market (MINTEL) and the interaction between shelf characteristics and product quality. Second,   to identify and quantify the critical process parameters related to the color stability of sliced ​​products throughout their shelf life  , consisting of the packaging, storage, distribution, and sales processes.   Process strategies will then be developed to minimize product discoloration  , both through product formulation and packaging. The objective is then to   implement, at an industrial pilot level, the optimal combination of processing strategies   for each of the cooked meat products studied in the project. Finally,   the results will be disseminated and transferred to the sector   to raise awareness and promote their scalability and replicability.

Action of the PAC Strategic Plan 2023-2027 co-financed by: