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Plastic Food Packaging: Benefits, Suitable Plastics and BRC
The types of plastic used differ from industry to industry, depending on each sector's needs and requirements. To keep the environmental impact of plastic as low as possible, these specific requirements must be strictly met.
Yet plastic is used for food packaging for good reason. Some products can be packed in other, alternative materials – but it is important to understand which key problems plastic food packaging solves when it comes to food.
The benefits of plastic food packaging
Besides positive properties such as low production costs, easy storage and resistance to environmental influences, to name just a few, plastic packaging materials play a decisive role in protecting the environment and in responsible food consumption.
Studies show that food packaged in plastic keeps much longer than unpackaged food. Longer shelf life is key to reducing food waste. It is a well-established fact that the longer food stays fresh, the more likely we are to eat it rather than throw it away. This is why countries that package a larger share of their food produce less food waste.
On average, landfills produce one fifth of all methane emissions – and methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Food is the most common material in landfills, and it produces methane as it decomposes. In other words, plastic packaging has a positive effect on the shelf life of food and helps reduce our environmental footprint.
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Plastics suitable for the food industry
However, not all plastics are suitable for use in the food industry. In the USA, the materials that may be used are regulated and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Examples include HDPE, PET, polypropylene and food-grade polycarbonates.
What is BRC?
The food industry has to comply with numerous standards to keep food safe. Alongside the FDA, this safety is also governed by BRC, the global food safety standard.
It was developed to help the food industry comply with UK and EU food safety legislation and has since become an internationally recognised benchmark of best practice in food safety, quality and responsibility, with more than 17,000 BRC-certified sites worldwide.
The standard gives organisations in the food industry a framework for managing the safety, integrity and quality of their products and services. This includes retailers, manufacturers, importers, food service businesses and their suppliers.
It sets out requirements for the manufacture or preparation of processed foods and other products. It applies only to products that are manufactured, prepared or stored at a site audited as part of certification.
BRC and HACCP
Many people confuse the two terms or wrongly use them as synonyms. In fact, the BRC standard is divided into several sections, one of which is the food safety plan (HACCP). This enables you to identify and control the biological, chemical or physical hazards that could make the food you produce unsafe.
All in all, the cost-effectiveness of plastic food packaging benefits not only large companies but also small producers: even on a smaller budget, it gives them access to standardised packaging options. Contact our experts for a tailored quote!