Showa Denko Gas Products (President: Koichi Nishimura, headquartered in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture) has launched “SHOWMIX” to the market for food packaging in a modified atmosphere and sold about 140 thousand m3 in 2016 up by several percent from the previous year. In the modified atmosphere packaging, air is removed from a package and gas is filled instead when food is packed, so that consumption or a best-before date can be extended.

The product was born about 30 years ago as a business item from the needs by a food company which wanted to use a mixed gas easily without any complicated equipment or facility. There are two lineups available. One is “SHOWMIX-ALL” mixed with carbon dioxide and nitrogen. The other is “SHOWMIX-A” in which 5% of ethyl alcohol is added to carbon dioxide to enhance bacteriostatic action when it is mixed with nitrogen using a dedicated mixer.

Nitrogen has an anti-oxidation effect, while carbon dioxide is bacteriostatic in action against microorganisms and alcohol is effective against fungi or yeast. “ALL” is mainly for fresh and processed foods, and “A” is for bread crumbs, dried whitebait and souvenir items which require a long-term storage. An extension effect of the consumption deadline by introducing the product ranges from one to two days, and best before dates 5 or 6. The mixing ratio of gas to replace ranges widely from 3 : 7 (CO2 : N2) to 5 : 5 depending the foods.

Mayumi manager in charge of carbon dioxide said, “Even by only one-day extension of the best-before days, fresh food manufacturers can enjoy the merits of the product in many cases, for instance, to enable production during the time zone easy to gather daytime part timers or to extend the distance of transportation. He also commented about the future prospect, saying, “We expect growth of demand for “SHOMIX” in harmony with the expansion of requirements for secure, safe and non-additive foods, and would like to strive to keep supplying our product of stable quality.”