food Marketing & Technology · April 201154

Packaging

the ability to be resealed, increasing demands are also being put on the microbiological-hygienic safety of food packaging.

A key aspect here is the microbiological state of the packaging surface at the time of packing/filling, namely the level of contamination with bacteria, mold, and yeast. The level of contamination in daily practice ranges from low to virtually germ-free.

Hygiene requirements for food packaging

The requirements on food packaging have increased significantly over recent decades. This has been the case for all types of packaging: Packaging made of glass, metal, plastic, paper, cardboard, laminates, and biodegradable materials. This also concerns materials that have been developed more recently for so-called active or smart packaging and packaging systems containing nanoparticles.

Modern food packaging must possess an ever growing list of features covering product-specific, packaging-technical, logistic, advertising-related, consumer-related, and not least environmental-related aspects. Industry and the retail industry are endeavoring to comply with these requirements as far as possible. In addition to the material-related safety aspects of packaging that is in direct contact with products, such as the transfer of substances and additives to the foods, risks due to foreign substances and foreign particles on packaging, tightness, mechanical strength, and

There is a requirement for hygienic packaging in accordance with the Codes of Good Manufacturing and Hygiene Practice (Codes of Practice) of the general principles of the Codex Alimentarius. EU Regulation 852/2004 on food hygiene stipulates for the first time specific requirements for the hygienic state of food packaging in Section X. According to this, the packaging must not be a source of contamination for foods.

Certified hygiene management systems for food packaging must already consider all hygiene-related aspects of the manufacturing processes right through to product filling. The own monitoring that is carried out in packaging companies will have to be increasingly adapted to uniform standards. DIN EN 15593-2008 (Hygiene management in the manufacture of food packaging) will serve here as a model in the member states of the EU. This describes the requirements for hygienic manufacture in detail.

Guideline values of the industrial work group at the Fraunhofer IVV

Up until a few years ago, specific values for microbiological contamination on packaging after manufacture and

Guideline Values for Microbiological Contamination Provide Increased Assurance for Assessing the Hygienic State of Food Packagingby Dr. Werner Hennlich

Part I: Packaging materials and packaging systems made of non-absorbent materials

55 food Marketing & Technology · April 2011

Packaging

before product filling had not been defined in any hygiene standard. In order to rectify this, a work group of the Industrie vereinigung für Lebensmittel-technologie und Verpackung IVLV e.V. (Industrial Association for Food Technology and Packaging) was established at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising. Since 2002 this group has been establishing “Guideline values for microbiological contamination on food packaging (packaging material and packaging systems)”.

The results of Part I of the project (Packaging materials and packaging systems made of non-absorbent materials) were published in 2004/2005 and the results of Part II of the project (Bottle-shaped containers made of glass and plastics) were published in 2009/2010 in the following journals:

• Verpackungs-Rdsch. 12/2004 TWB 47-49 and 9/2009 TWB 91-92

• Deutsche Molkereizeitung (dmz) 24/2004, 72-73

• Lebensmitteltechnik 12/2004, 48-49 and 10/2009, 48-49

• LVT Lebensmittel Industrie 3,4/2005, 40-43 and 3/2010, 40-42

• Flüssiges Obst 7/2009, 300-302• Pharma + Food 5/2009, 26-28, and • Beverage & Brewing Guide 2010, 130-

131. Part III of the project (Packaging made of laminates based on paper and cardboard) is still ongoing.

The values represent a cross-industry guideline for assessing the hygienic state of food packaging made of plastic based on the current state-of-the-art in manufacturing technology. The values are a recommendation and are not legally binding limit values. These guideline values will give greater overall assurance

when assessing the hygienic state of food packaging.

Key No. 75714

The AuthorDr. Werner Hennlich works at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, Freising, Germany

1.) Guideline values for microbiological contamination on packaging materials made of non-absorbent materials

Guideline values for films made of plastic, aluminum foil, and for pre-punched lids made of films and foils for prefabricated packaging systems (beakers, bowls/dishes)

Test criteria Guideline value cfu1 per 100 ml

Total surface colony count2 ≤ 2

Mold and yeast ≤ 1

Enterobacteriaceae3 Not detectable1 colony forming units2 aerobic, mesophilic colony count 3 gram negative bacteria which cause spoiling of food, many of them present in the human

intestines (indicator organisms for hygienic manufacture)

These guideline values do not apply for bottles with narrow openings made of glass and plastic (See Part II: Guideline values for bottles made of glass and plastic).

2.) Microbiological guideline values for packaging systems (containers with wide openings) made of non-absorbent materials

Guideline values for containers made of plastic (beakers, bowls/dishes) that are used for food products

Test criteria Guideline value cfu1 per 100 ml

For container volumes ≤ 500 ml

For container volumes > 500 ml

Total surface colony count2 ≤ 10 ≤ 5

Mold and yeast ≤ 1 ≤ 1

Enterobacteriaceae3 Not detectable

Maximum container volume: 2.5 liters

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