Kinetic Parameter Estimation of Time‐temperature Integrators Intended for Use with Packaged Fresh Seafood

The United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) considers any hermetically sealed package containing fresh seafood as a reduced oxygen package (ROP) if the oxygen transmission rate of the package is less than 10000 cm3/m2/d. USFDA's recent Import Alert nr 16‐125 effectively bans the use of ROP for fresh seafood in the United States unless adequate temperature control and thermal history monitoring is used. Time‐temperature integrators (TTI) were proposed as one potential method to satisfy this thermal monitoring requirement. Evaluation and selection of appropriate TTIs remains a difficult process for seafood manufacturers. Three commercially available TTIs (Vitsab M2‐10, C2‐10, and Fresh‐Check TJ2) and 5 prototype TTIs (Avery Dennison) were evaluated for performance against the Skinner and Larkin (1998) botulinum toxin lag‐time relationship. Isothermal treatments at 0°C, 5°C, 10°C, and 15°C were used to determine Arrhenius kinetic parameters of TTIs. Computer models were used to predict and compare actual TTI performance under dynamic thermal conditions. Results suggest that Vitsab M2‐10 and Avery Dennison T126(2) and T126(4) TTIs may be used to predict safety of fresh seafood in ROP.