Professional Documents
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Tetra Pak does not compromise on food safety because it is critical to our business, those of
our customers and the well-being of consumers. We apply the highest standards, using the
universally recognised Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Health
Organisation (WHO) definition of food safety — ensuring that food will not cause harm to
consumers when it is prepared and/or eaten according to its intended use.i
We help our customers achieve a holistic view of food safety across the entire production
process — or to use the dairy industry as an example, from the cow all the way through to
the consumer. For Tetra Pak, food safety encompasses a wide range of specialist areas,
including the legal and regulatory environment, processing and packaging solutions and the
foods produced by our customers.
Tetra Pak produced 158 billion packages in 2010, containing 74 billion litres of milk, juice and
other liquid foods — that’s over 10 litres for every person on the planet. So we have a
responsibility to help ensure the highest levels of food safety.
Because of our commitment to food safety, we adhere to and even drive regulatory
standards that are amongst the most stringent in the world, complying with EU and US Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations. Even when production takes place outside these
jurisdictions, we comply with EU and US requirements as well as local regulations.
Tetra Pak also complies with non-regulatory regimes and guidelines such as those set down
by the International Dairy Federation and the European Hygienic Engineering Design Group.
In so doing, we aim to ensure that we always meet and often exceed food safety
requirements wherever they may be in the world.
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BACKGROUNDER
We ‘future scan’ policy evolution in relevant regulatory regimes so that we and our customers
are prepared for regulatory changes. As industry leader, we are deeply involved with industry
bodies and regulators to promote food safety best practice and we provide support in
communicating safety relevant information to customers and authorities. For example, we
have contributed our experience on EU-financed research projects investigating the
migration of materials in contact with food.
As well as providing cleaning systems that deliver to the highest possible standards, we also
support our customers in creating a production environment that is focused on safety. We
help them, for example, to meet their obligations to create and maintain documented food
safety programmes, such Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP),
recommended by the FAO and WHO Codex Alimentarius. HACCP focuses on identifying,
evaluating and controlling microbiological, chemical and physical hazards to protect food and
consumers.
• Describing the most important food safety measures in order to eliminate potential
food safety related hazards in the different process steps.
• Providing information on control systems and measures to reduce food safety-related
hazards where operational surveillance/testing are required. Critical limits and target
values for machine settings are given as well as requirements for the functionality of
the automatic systems in terms of tools, procedures and preventive maintenance.
Tetra Pak’s Quality Assurance Management (QAM) also supports our customers in order to
achieve safe, high quality and competitive food production. As well as Food Safety Charts
and HACCP, QAM provides independent evaluations of production lines and assistance with
the introduction of good working practices in accordance with Good Manufacturing Practice
(GMP).
Package safety
Tetra Pak also pursues the highest food safety standards in its packaging solutions, which
are designed to meet the diverse demands of the global beverage industry. This has resulted
BACKGROUNDER
in an ever-expanding portfolio of package shapes and sizes that combine with a broad range
of closures. Our aim is to provide convenience, comfort and style; and package safety lies at
the heart of this ambition.
Working with internationally respected partners in the fields of quality, safety and design,
Tetra Pak undertakes thorough analysis of existing and new designs so that consumers can
enjoy their beverages safely.
We measure ourselves against some of the most advanced safety regimes in the world,
including: ISO Guides 50 and 51 for children; ISO Guide 71 for people with disabilities and
older consumers; and the Code of Practice for Sports Closures from the British Soft Drinks
Association. Adherence to these and other safety benchmarks results in our package
components meeting size and shape parameters to prevent choking, inhalation and airflow
hazards.
This has led to the creation of our own detailed Technical Corporate Standards, which
include an overall package safety manual, principles for design and a package safety
assessment.
Traceability
The ability to trace the source of foods through every step of the production chain has
become a high food safety priority: in globalised and increasingly standardised markets,
retailers and consumers expect consistency in every single product; consumer awareness of
food safety is driving demand for more information on the beverages they buy; which in turn
is leading to more detailed food safety laws that demand the provision of data on the source
of raw food materials. In the event of a food safety issue, traceability helps producers to
identify exactly where the problem lies —and to solve it.
Tetra Pak’s plant automation system, Tetra PlantMaster™, enables traceability throughout
the processing and packaging production chain — from the initial intake of raw materials
through to the final packaged product. It collects information in real time, allowing quality
control personnel to see who, when and how the contents of a particular pack were
processed in less than a minute. In addition, Tetra PlantMaster enables the secure
identification of every primary package, tray and pallet.
Traceability brings producers greater control of production, enabling them to plan and
monitor efficiency more effectively and to trace the lineage of all raw materials. They can
access information on any aspect of the process, including the number of packages
produced, volumes being processed, machine efficiency, information on cleaning in place
and overall production performance.
With this data easily available, production best practices can be replicated each and every
time and potential problems can be accurately diagnosed and solved, often before they
happen. Ongoing data analysis — visualised in ways that are familiar to staff — helps
towards improvements in safety and efficiency.
Tetra PlantMaster is so sophisticated that each individual package can be traced back to its
original lot. With an integrated Internet-based communication platform, consumers can
BACKGROUNDER
access specific information on their foods by entering a unique code printed on each carton
via a website. This can include detail right down to maps indicating the specific farms where
the raw milk that went into the final product was sourced.
Traceability meets the demand for more transparent and accountable food production,
offering reassurance on the origin, processing, packaging and safety of the product
contained in every Tetra Pak carton.
An uncompromising approach
Food safety is the foundation on which Tetra Pak builds its world leading processing and
packaging solutions. We bring more than 60 years of food safety expertise, legal and
regulatory know-how, stringent hygienic design and quality control processes, innovative
package design and groundbreaking traceability solutions. Ultimately, these factors combine
to underpin our commitment to PROTECT WHAT’S GOOD™ and deliver the confidence and
control that our customers need to provide uncompromising safety.
- ENDS -
i
(WHO Codex Alimentaris).