December 17, 2024
Our experts balance food safety and regulations every day. The new challenge? Sustainable packaging that doesn’t compromise safety.
Food safety isn’t just about clean ingredients; it’s just as much about the package that holds them. For half a century, experts at Tetra Pak’s Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Centre in Stuttgart, Germany, have led the way in food packaging safety—ensuring that products remain safe, fresh, and fully compliant with a complex web of global regulations.
“Our job is to make sure every layer of material works together to protect what’s inside,” says Davide Marchesi, Director of Food Packaging Safety & Interaction. “How we do that differs from food to food, whether it’s milk or a very acidic product like juice, the product type dictates the requirements for the food package.”
As the centre celebrates its 50th anniversary, stricter regulations and the growing focus on sustainability is making the work even more complex.
More renewable packaging with the same level of food safety
The Stuttgart specialists include chemists, microbiologists, physicists, and highly specialised lab engineers. They focus on ensuring all materials in food contact meet legal requirements and are safe for use.
“Food safety and compliance are managed under one umbrella. The requirement is to deliver safe food to consumers and make sure it lives up to all regulations in the relevant markets, whether it is in the EU, the US or China,” explains Karin Federlin, Manager of Food Contact Compliance & Interaction.
In addition to this, with growing demands for renewable, recyclable and recycled materials, it becomes even more important to demonstrate that there are no harmful substances that can potentially migrate into food.
“The challenge is that when we develop new materials or make any changes to packaging, we need to develop a solution that fulfils all the necessary standards and make sure it doesn’t compromise food safety,” says Davide.
“We need to ensure that both commercially distributed products and new packaging materials remain safe and sound throughout the value chain.”
Monitoring regulatory changes to stay ahead of the game
The team will often be brought in to troubleshoot complex technical issues and perform root cause analyses: “Whether it’s a material defect or a foreign object found in a carton, we use advanced testing methods like spectroscopy and microscopy,” says Karin.
They also spend much of their time keeping up to date on upcoming regulatory changes so they can be addressed before they become a problem: “The moment there is a new regulation or a new substance that’s picked up on the radar, our customers reach out to make sure their packaging is safe and compliant,” says Davide. “We’re typically way ahead of that. The moment we hear about a potentially problematic substance, we look into it and, if necessary, ask our suppliers to remove it.”
A prime example is how BPA was removed from all products long before it caused public concern a few years ago: “Whenever chemicals like that are discussed in the media, it can create worry, so we try to phase out anything problematic as quickly as possible.”
Testing, validating and introducing new materials
But removing a substance is not simple. You have to find a new raw material replacement, validate it, and onboard new suppliers. This process is time-consuming because it requires testing and assessing both the raw materials used in the packaging and the final products.
“The testing is crucial because sometimes new substances are generated during manufacturing,” says Karin. “We need to ensure that both commercially distributed products and new packaging materials remain safe and sound throughout the value chain.”
One of the biggest challenges recently was finding an alternative to the aluminium-foil layer in packaging. While this material provides an excellent source of protection against oxygen and light in the structure of our carton packages, it has a hefty carbon footprint. Last year, a carton package with a paper-based barrier was introduced as a solution, demonstrating that it’s possible to progress the sustainability of aseptic beverage cartons while maintaining food safety and enhancing food access.
“It’s important that regulations are informed by the best available science and that they’re effective and feasible for the industry to implement.”
“While the aluminium foil layer is an incredible barrier for food protection, finding alternatives to further reduce the carbon footprint of our solutions has been a key priority,” explains Davide. “We couldn’t just swap it out without understanding the value chain implications of such change, but innovations like this are exciting and show how it’s possible to continuously improve food safety and work towards. A simplified material structure, shifting away from virgin, fossil-based plastic and increasing the share of paper-based content in our carton packages.”
Proactive innovation: In-house testing and future-ready packaging
The challenge with food safety regulations isn’t just that the rules are constantly changing but that the different regions—Europe, the US, China, and beyond—have their own approaches. That’s why Davide’s team operates on a triple compliance framework, ensuring that all packaging meets the standards of the US FDA, the European Union, and Chinese regulators.
Recently, the European Union issued a new regulation on packaging materials called the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWR), which addresses the problem of packaging waste and its legally permitted quantity of heavy-metal content. The regulation significantly increased quality requirements, mandating a new purity level in raw materials used for food contact.
“We need to make sure that packaging materials are free from genotoxic, carcinogenic, or mutagenic substances,” says Karin. “But it’s extremely challenging to detect trace impurities at a level where the limit has been lowered to just 0.15 parts per billion.”
The team is investigating different analytics approaches and internal capabilities to help address this. One activity focuses on exploring in-house Ames testing – an in-vitro genetic toxicology test designed to detect mutagenicity of chemicals – as a potential new method for quickly screening food-contact materials. If successful, the method could become a key step in assessing food-contact materials by screening whether any harmful substances have the potential to migrate and lead to harmful mutations in genetically modified bacteria.
“It’s essentially a ‘go’ or ‘no-go’ screening,” says Davide. "If we get a ‘go,’ we’re confident the material is safe. If it’s a ‘no-go,’ we’ll investigate further."
Collaborating across the industry to deliver a safer future
No matter how much you monitor, getting ahead of everything on your own is hard. That’s why collaboration with both universities and industry organisations is crucial.
“We’re constantly communicating with leading universities, collaborating on research projects,” says Davide. “Their expertise helps us stay ahead of the latest scientific developments, and we can often support them by providing access to real-life cases.”
In addition to academia, the centre is also involved with industry associations like the International Life Science Institute (ILSI) and the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE).
“These initiatives bring the industry closer together and make it possible for us to provide a collective voice,” says Davide. “It’s important that regulations are informed by the best available science and that they’re effective and feasible for the industry to implement.”
Microbiology specialists, for example, are often invited to speak externally, conduct training sessions, and share knowledge about best practices for analysing food and materials and setting microbiological requirements on packaging material.
“We want to help improve scientific methods and ways of working to ensure everyone around the world can get access to safe, nutritious food.”
“The demand for sustainable packaging is only going to grow, and we need to make sure that all new materials are just as safe and reliable as the ones they’re replacing.”
Looking to the future: Driving innovation while protecting what’s good
What does the future hold for food safety? For Davide and his colleagues, a primary focus will continue to be developing safe, compliant packaging that can offer a more sustainable profile.
“The demand for sustainable packaging is only going to grow, and we need to make sure that all new materials are just as safe and reliable as the ones they’re replacing,” says Davide.
That’s why the team also engages in lifecycle activities to meet future regulations. With a fast-evolving regulatory landscape, ensuring consistent compliance requires a lot of work.
“Our team is brought in as soon as possible to guide new projects, provide feedback, review supplier certificates, conduct rigorous testing, and ultimately issue the food contact certificate that allows a product to go to market,” says Karin.
As regulations change, the laboratory will have to stay dynamic. Ultimately, Davide says, the team’s purpose is simple yet vital: selecting the right packaging format for each product: “Whether stored at room temperature, transported to cold regions or subjected to high heat, our mission will be the same as it always has—protecting what’s good.”
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Food safety is more than just compliance—it's about protecting people and delivering trust across global markets. Read more about how our experts drive innovations in food safety while meeting stringent regulations worldwide.
