Food and Product Safety
Beverage cartons are an indispensable part of life today, keeping food and beverages safe, accessible, and fresh for consumers. They protect beverages and food products against shelf life degradation (spoiling) caused by light, air, and contaminants.
At the same time, they are critical to preserving flavours, aromas, colours, nutrients, and vitamins – all the necessary parts of the food product – during both long-term ambient storage, and short-life chilled use.
Food Contact Materials (FCM), such as beverage cartons, must comply with EU legislation ensuring consumer protection and food quality. In 2019, ACE contributed to the publication of the Industry Food Contact Guidelines for the Compliance of Paper and Board Materials and Articles. These guidelines were developed for public authorities, business operators, and consumers to help enhance knowledge that paper and board materials used for food applications are safe.
Consumer safety is paramount and ACE supports the EU-wide harmonised rules on the safety of food contact materials. ACE is currently cooperating with the Commission on the Review of the Food Contact Framework Regulation.
See our Position Paper: Revision of EU rules on food contact materials Inception impact assessment.
Beverage cartons and food waste:
Food packaging is essential for securing our global food supply and for ensuring resilient food systems. It plays an important role in ensuring food safety, hygiene, and consumer protection while also helping to keep the food supply chain in place. Its primary function is to contain, preserve, and protect the product throughout the manufacturing, transport, storage, and consumption chain, enabling the safe and proper access to nutritious food to consumers.
Beverage cartons are a sustainable and low carbon packaging solution which may be filled with a different range of products, and are available for aseptic and fresh packaging.
Products packaged in aseptic beverage cartons, such as UHT milk, can be stored for at least six months without refrigeration, removing the need for added preservatives, saving additional energy, and eliminating carbon emissions associated with powering the refrigeration process.
Fresh products such as fresh pasteurized milk, can also be packaged in beverage cartons and demand refrigeration.
It’s a key factor in ensuring not only the safety of the food we eat and the beverages we drink, but also in preventing food waste by prolonging the self-life, and the subsequent loss of resources both in Europe and beyond.