Sensory characteristics of Galician chorizo sausage packed under vacuum and under modified atmospheres

One of the most widely used methods for conservation of Galician chorizo sausage is vacuum packing. Recently, some manufacturers have begun to implement packaging under modified atmospheres. We compared the sensory characteristics, over about 7 months of storage, of chorizos packed under vacuum or under a modified atmosphere (100% CO2, 100% N2, or 50:50 CO2/N2). Most of the 29 variables considered differed significantly between samples packed under vacuum and samples packed under the modified atmospheres. Nineteen of the variables varied significantly over the storage period. Parallel studies of gas permeabilities confirmed that the aluminum-polyester-polyethylene laminate used for packing under modified atmospheres showed very low permeability to both CO2 and N2.