We are open and accepting new clients during this global pandemic, with a commitment to servicing the broader food industry with a specialization on fresh-cut produce.
Our lab is staffed and we are accepting shipments and samples.
We are experts in supporting your consulting needs through various modes of video conferencing and electronic communication.
Together we will get through this while keeping your business moving forward.
We have recently purchased a tabletop lidding machine, the T100 from MULTIVAC.
This equipment expands our capabilities and allows us to perform lidded clamshell shelf-life tests on your produce with a perforation pattern designed to optimize shelf-life. This machinery also allows for us to utilize active modified atmosphere, where we can gas flush the clamshell at time of pack to extend shelf-life of sensitive items.
We are excited about these new capabilities and the opportunity to improve quality for our customers.
From the desk of the QfreshLAB Team—
The importance of quantifying respiration rate (RR):
The QfreshLAB can measure and quantify the respiration of your products at different temperatures and under differing levels of abuse and stress. This allows us to map respiration rate changes under differing conditions. If fresh produce modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), design is attempted and respiration has not been quantified, then shelf life will not be optimized!
After quantifying respiration rate with several different scenarios, we can design a package to optimize shelf-life. The image below shows a comparison of respiration rate and shelf-life between different types of popular produce found in the market.
The higher the respiration rate, in combination with extended shelf, life the greater the need for optimally designed MAP.
