The aseptic packaging process is used for various food products and beverages, including milk, soup, tomatoes, pudding and several others. It’s also used in the pharmaceutical industry to ensure that medications aren’t polluted with harmful bacteria.

Aseptic packaging materials
Several materials are layered together to provide the level of protection required for aseptic packaging standards, including:

Polyethylene is used as a barrier on the inner and outer sides of aseptic packaging. These layers protect against moisture entering or exiting the container.
Film foil helps preserve the product by keeping light and oxygen out.
Advantages of aseptic packaging
Aseptic packaging has been growing in popularity amongst manufacturers in recent years. In fact, The Freedonia Group reported that the demand for aseptic packaging is expected to rise at a 6.8% rate annually, reaching $6.4 billion by year 2020. This growth can be attributed to the various advantages aseptic packaging provides to manufacturers.

Increased shelf life

Aseptic packaging helps increase shelf life for select products by an estimated six to 12 months without refrigeration. The increased longevity of a product’s lifespan gives manufactures more time to sell their product on retailers’ shelves, and it provides the consumer with more time to use or eat the product before it expires.

Reduced shipping and distribution costs

With the unique materials used in aseptic packaging, select products can be stored at ambient temperatures (approximately 68-77 degrees Fahrenheit). Additionally, aseptic packaging is lightweight and compact when compared to more traditional packaging types. These properties allow manufacturers to cut back on shipping costs by reducing shipping weight and eliminating the need to refrigerate products that would typically require cooler environments during distribution.

No preservatives required

Manufacturers don’t need to use preservatives with the use of aseptic packaging because the sterilization process protects against bacteria. This allows manufacturers to use real ingredients that consumers prefer.

Eco-friendly

Aseptic packaging is a sustainable method that can contribute to a manufacturer’s “Go Green” initiative. The packaging is primarily comprised of renewable resources and uses approximately 60% less plastic than other options. Aseptic packaging also requires less energy to manufacture

Maintains quality of contents

The high-tech aseptic packaging process helps preserve the overall quality of most food products. That means taste, smell, and even nutritional value will not be compromised and consumers can be confident that the product they purchase will be of high quality.

To learn more about aseptic packaging and the other packaging methods available at Eagle Flexible Packaging, connect with an expert today by filling out our sidebar form.

Scholle IPN invented the bag-in-box and revolutionized the way we package goods. Since then, we have continued to find innovative and game-changing ways to utilize packaging technology to transport food safely while reducing our environmental impact.

Scholle IPN began utilizing low-acid aseptic filling technology 40 years ago. Aseptic packaging introduces a sterilized product into a sterilized package and requires no refrigeration and no preservatives. The challenge with low-acid items—think milk, a low-acid product, versus tomato sauce, a high-acid product—is that their pH levels aren’t low enough to ward off bacterial growth on their own. This makes packaging these products a challenge. Before low-acid aseptic technology, the only way to package low-acid items to keep them shelf-stable was to add preservatives or to use hot-fill or retort. While both methods are effective in preventing bacterial growth, they require packaging that can withstand high heat, like aluminum and glass, extracting more resources from the planet. They also have a greater effect on product quality.

Low-Acid Aseptic: Second-to-None

The benefits of low-acid aseptic technology are felt both inside the package and out. It’s clear that being able to package and store sensitive food items without preservatives is a win, but eliminating the need for refrigeration means cutting out cold storage throughout the distribution stream. “What low-acid packaging does is it takes the product out of the refrigerated supply chain,” Halverson says. “Those are huge savings because [restaurants] don’t have to refrigerate the product. And if you go to any restaurant, you know storage is a tight commodity.”

The importance of low-acid technology is really felt when you extrapolate outward. There are hundreds of thousands of restaurants in the United States alone—and the restaurant industry is just a small sliver of where low-acid packaging can make an impact. “[Low-acid] has basically changed the baby food market—before low-acid, all of those products that were in pouches were treated with heat. So you’re eliminating the vitamins and the texture and the nutrients in baby food this way,” Halverson notes. “To use low-acid aseptic technology to pasteurize baby food and put it into a pouch without preservatives is a big deal.”

Halverson sees low-acid aseptic transforming other industries. “I hope to see coffee shops use low-acid packaging for their nut milks,” Halverson says. “A one-and-a-half-liter of cashew milk, or oat milk, or whatever milk you’d like with a tap offers the convenience of no air getting to the product. What we offer to the wine industry would be offered to the dairy industry. You wouldn’t have to throw an unused half carton of milk away because you didn’t have enough customers that day.”

To address the growing need for a dependable and sustainable shipping container for biologics, Liviri created its newest innovation in cold-chain shippers: Bio

Liviri Bio is set to revolutionize how the life sciences industry transports everything from specimens to pharmaceuticals. These durable, reusable shipping containers feature a thin-wall, vacuum insulated design that minimizes overall footprint to maximize savings, reliability and thermal performance. Liviri Bio provides 24- to 100-hours of temperature assurance and significant cost savings over the life of the product compared to industry standard single and multi-use shippers.

“When it comes to shipping critical, potentially lifesaving specimens and life science products, there is very little room for error or chance,” said Liviri General Manager Chuck Kukic. “Leveraging our expertise in cold-chain shipping, Liviri engineers have created an innovative vessel to ensure these precious payloads arrive safely and within prescribed temperature ranges.”

Liviri Bio is available in two compact sizes. Liviri Bio 2.3 has an internal dimension of 2.3 liters and provides more than double the thermal performance of single-use expanded polystyrene (EPS) shippers. It can accommodate up to eight 20-well trays or four 50-well trays. Liviri Bio 4.7, internal dimensions of 4.7 liters, outperforms single-use EPS shippers. These reusable shipping containers are rated for up to 100 shipments, saving money and reducing waste.

Each Liviri Bio vessel comes equipped with a protective shipping jacket and can be customized with a variety of vial tray and ice pack configurations. All Liviri Bio vessels and accessories are available now. Visit Liviri.com to get more information and connect with our team of experts.