
30 Oct 2017 Think carton! This food and drink packaging is better for us and the environment
Carton packaging for dairy, juice, and food is the healthy, sustainable option that meets the modern lifestyle needs of busy people, asserts Tetra Pak.
CARTON PACKS protect food and drinks that families need for healthy, happy, well-developed lives as it makes its way from farms to their tables and consumption on the go.
Carton packs are also good for the environment, since they’re made from renewable wood fibre resources overseen to be responsibly managed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and they’re 100% recyclable right here in South Africa.
Most importantly, they’re made to be convenient for busy people on the go because they’re light, portable, and are easily resealed. They also don’t need to be kept chilled before opening – normally one of the biggest hassles with healthy, fresh food and drink mums tote for kids or pack into school lunch bags.
“Carton packs offer three main benefits,” says Penny Ntuli, communications director of Tetra Pak South Africa. “They protect healthy and nutritious food, they’re sustainable and environmentally friendly, and they’re convenient for busy, modern lifestyles.”
Tetra Pak pioneered the technology that makes this possible over decades based on global experiences. It has culminated in innovative carton that keeps food and drink such as milk and juice fresh for at least six months without any preservatives and without having to refrigerate it.
Tetra Pak carton packs are predominantly made from paperboard, a renewable resource that reduces environmental impact. And it produces biodegradable plastic, used for caps and protective coatings, derived from sugarcane.
“Our cartons help to ensure food is preserved and can be transported conveniently from farms to tables – without preservatives,” says Ntuli. “And they help our customers carry cartons on the go. No spillage, no fuss.”
People benefit from the convenience of the small portion sizes, no need to refrigerate before opening, ability to reseal the packs, the knowledge that they’re using packs made from a renewable resource that’s environmentally sustainable and recyclable, easy to open and pour, and safe while it locks in all the nutritional health and goodness of the source food and drink product – without any form of preservative.
The long shelf life is achieved by making product commercially sterile as it goes into the packs, which essentially means killing the germs harmful to humans.
That’s done by flash heating the product to high temperature for mere seconds – temperatures depending on the individual product. And flash heating preserves the original product’s natural goodness and nutritional content.
The six layers of the carton pack lock that goodness in so it isn’t contaminated by outside air (which carries germs harmful to humans and makes milk go “off”, for example) and sunlight that helps harmful germs to grow and multiply.
Consumers can also rest assured they’re helping the environment even more when they buy food and drink in carton. Carton is lighter and more compact to transport both before and after it’s filled. That means fewer CO2 emissions throughout the entire supply chain. Not needing refrigeration has the same effect.
And it also means the healthy and nutritious product packed in carton can get to more people in farther away places where they need healthy food.
About Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak is the world’s leading food processing and packaging solutions company. Working closely with customers and suppliers, it provides safe, innovative and environmentally sound products that each day meet the needs of hundreds of millions of people in more than 170 countries around the world.
With more than 23,000 employees based in over 80 countries, it believes in responsible industry leadership and a sustainable approach to business. Its motto, “PROTECTS WHAT’S GOOD™,” reflects a vision to make food safe and available, everywhere.
More information about Tetra Pak is available at www.tetrapak.com