The aim of a recent study, carried out by a group of Italian researchers (Leni et al., 2025), was to evaluate the effectiveness of an alternative food packaging system for use in the cured meat sector. In particular, two types of packaging (one conventional, made of BOPA/EVOH-PE, and one alternative, made of BOPP-ALOx/PP, which is single-material and more sustainable) for whole salamis were tested and compared over a 90-day storage period at 4 °C. The samples were monitored for colour, water activity, pH, lipid oxidation and microbiological growth.

The results show that the innovative material, whilst providing a good gas barrier, induces condensation due to its low water vapour permeability. As a knock-on effect, this leads to an increase in surface water activity and a colour change in the outer surface towards darker shades compared to the product packaged in the conventional system.