The degradation process of FA itself has been described before (Akhtar et al., 1999; Day & Gregory, 1983) and its rate depends on several factors such as temperature, light, pH, oxygen and the overall composition of the respective food product. We observed the highest degradation rates in the first month of our study. Our observations concur with the experimental findings of Saxby et al. (Saxby, Smith, Blake, & Coveney, 1983) where the degradation of FA is investigated in a model buffer solution. The faster degrada-tion rate is presumed to be due to reaction with oxygen (dissolved or present in the head-space of the package) which will eventually be exhausted. Then the degradation proceeds at a lower rate.