Abstract: A vacuum skin package for packaging fresh red meat and like articles is produced by using a composite, multilayer, oxygen barrier, vacuum skin packaging forming film in which the barrier layer can be manually separated from the non-barrier, oxygen permeable layer. After the vaccum skin package is formed to enclose a fresh red meat product in a vacuum the meat will have a purplish color. Then, after storage, the barrier layer can be removed so that the remaining permeable film can admit oxygen to impart the desirable red bloom to the fresh meat. Of importance is the "tear through" feature of the permeable inner layer which has a greater bond strength to the tray than internal strength or layer-to-layer bond strength so that a tab may be torn loose at a score line and then the barrier layer may be readily delaminated and peeled from the permeable layer.