Abstract: A method of packaging perishable foods wherein the perishable food product is packed in a plurality of cartons and the cartons are stacked on a pallet for storage and/or transportation, including placing a sheet of material on a pallet to provide a bottom sheet, with the bottom sheet overhanging the sides of the pallet, stacking a plurality of cartons on the bottom sheet on the pallet to form a carton stack, covering the top and sides of the carton stack with a bag of a gas permeable material, the bag having a closed top and an open bottom with a lower edge, sealing the edges of the bottom sheet to the lower edge of the bag, introducing a quantity of nitrogen gas through an opening into the interior of the bag without withdrawing any gas from the bag, and sealing the opening to retain the nitrogen within the bag, and apparatus for packaging such perishable products. Preferably the gas permeable material is a selective permeable material which is more permeable to oxygen than to nitrogen.