The most sustainable and carbon reducing spray coating system, to significantly extend the shelf life of protein intensive fresh fish and meat for display to reduce protein food waste

粮食损失和浪费是一个主要的世界性问题。6.9亿人或8.9%的人在挨饿(联合国粮食及农业组织)。食物垃圾管理市场将在2032年达到116.4亿美元。发达经济体目睹了供应链下游阶段的粮食损失。COVID后的经济通胀导致英国各地食品价格大幅上涨(25.7%是进口食品，18%是国内食品)。这导致了生存威胁，特别是对低收入/代表性不足的人。肉类是最费力的食物，也是最有毒的食物，三分之一的排放量可以归因于废肉，四分之三的食物垃圾被用来处理肉类，尽管它占总食物垃圾的13%。根据Grocer的数据，英国超市每年丢弃10万吨可食用食物，可以养活3000多万人。因此，超市有责任减少食品浪费。肉类的保质期和保质期是有区别的。保质期(也称为颜色保质期或陈列期)描述的是肉类在冷藏条件下在颜色发生变化之前可以保存的时间长度。牛肉的颜色从鲜艳的樱桃红到另一种颜色，如棕色，是由肌红蛋白的变化引起的(Brooks，2007)。肌红蛋白是肌肉中的一种色素，负责结合氧气。虽然这种颜色变化是无害的，也不意味着变质，但它会导致客户发现不想要的颜色。鲜肉含有高达75%的水分，这些水分与水溶性蛋白质(如肌红蛋白)结合形成“净化”。陈列肉很容易脱水，相应地会在清洗过程中失去蛋白质。因此，迫切需要一种可持续延长陈列鲜肉保质期的有效方法。延长鲜肉保质期最方便的方法是使用包装，如透气透明薄膜包装。透气包装通常由泡沫托盘和放置在肉块下方的吸水垫组成。托盘包裹在透湿性和透氧性的透明薄膜中。这种薄膜的特性允许空气中的氧气与牛肉接触，将牛肉的颜色从紫色变成明亮的樱桃红。这种单独的包装包装成本和劳动力密集型通常在高端超市找到。Algreen的目标是通过以最经济、可扩展的方式逐步淘汰传统的塑料包装，通过蛋白质保存来延长陈列鲜肉的货架期。

Food losses and wastage is a primary worldwide problem. 690 million or 8.9% of people are hungry(Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN). Food Waste Management Market will be $116.4 Bn(2032). Developed economies witness food losses at the downstream stages of the supply chain. Post-COVID economic inflation leads to significant food price increases across the UK(25.7% imported;18% domestic). This lead to survival threats especially to lower incomes/under-representatives.Meat is the most laborious food to produce and the most toxic with 1/3 of emissions produced can be attributed to waste meat with 3/4 of the land used for food waste being used to dispose of meat, even though it accounts for 13% of total food waste.According to The Grocer, supermarkets throw away 100,000-tons of edible food annually in the UK which could feed upwards of 30-million people. As a result, supermarkets have a responsibility to reduce food waste.There is a distinction between case-life and shelf-life of meat. Case-life (also called colour shelf-life or display-life) is described as the length of time meat can be displayed under refrigeration before a colour change occurs. This colour change from the bright, cherry-red colour of beef to another colour, such as brown, is caused by a change in the protein myoglobin(Brooks,2007). Myoglobin is the colour pigment in muscle and is responsible for binding oxygen. While this colour change is not harmful and does not denote spoilage, it results in a colour customers find undesirable. Fresh meat contains up to 75% of water, which combines with water-soluble protein(e.g.myoglobin) to form "purge". Display meat is easily dehydrated and correspondingly loses protein through purge. Hence, an effective way to sustainably extend display fresh meat shelf life is urgently needed.The most convenient way to extend fresh food shelf life is to use wrapping, such as air-permeable overwrap with clear transparent film. An air-permeable package typically consists of a foam tray and absorbent pad that rests under the meat cut. The tray is wrapped in a clear film that is permeable to moisture and oxygen. The film characteristics allow oxygen from the air to come in contact with the beef, changing the colour from purple to bright cherry-red. Such individual packaging wrap is both cost and labour-intensive are usually found in high-end supermarkets.Algreen aims to extend display fresh meat shelf-life with protein preservation by phasing out the conventional plastic packaging in the most economical scalable way.