Glossary
Cold chain: process and links

Activité de l'eau; water activity A_w

Can be defined as the ratio of water vapor pressure in an environment in thermodynamic equilibrium with a substance containing water to that which would prevail under the same conditions with pure water. In this way, dehydration of a product (drying) enables this activity to be lowered below a certain threshold, so that the humidity of the environment in equilibrium with the product in its vicinity remains below a level favorable to the development of micro-organisms.

Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP)

Modified atmosphere packaging (or protective atmosphere packaging) involves modifying the composition of the internal atmosphere of a package (usually foodstuffs) in order to improve its shelf life. The process generally involves replacing oxygen with other gases (e.g., dinitrogen) to slow the growth of aerobic life forms and oxidation...