Sensory and chemical quality of UHT‐milk stored in paperboard cartons with different oxygen and light barriers

Abstract

The sensory and chemical shelf‐life of UHT‐milk stored at room temperature and at 6°C in aluminium‐foil, non‐foil barrier (X‐board) and PE cartons were investigated. UHT milk in aluminium‐foil stored in the dark has a minimum shelf‐life of 6 months, while the shelf‐life is 4–5 months in X‐board and PE cartons. When PE cartons and X‐board cartons are stored with strong light exposure at 6°C, a development of light‐induced off‐flavour is detected after 2 and 8 weeks, respectively. The light‐induced off‐flavour effect is more pronounced than the effect of non‐light induced oxidation of unsaturated lipids.

Keywords:

• UHT milk
• oxidation
• light transmission
• sensory analysis
• GC/MS

Notes

Paper presented as a poster at the ILSI Europe, International Symposium ‘Food Packaging—Ensuring the Safety and Quality of Foods’ held in Budapest (Hungary) from Sept. ll‐13th 1996.