Introduction to food safety as it relates to packaging
Food Packaging Safety Forum, July 2014
Welcome to the first edition of the Food Packaging Safety Forum. We at Food & Beverage Packaging are excited to explore the subject of packaging safety and suitability and offer expert insight into these topics with these monthly columns.
The priorities and demands of food safety generally, and packaging safety specifically, have evolved over the years. In years past, for whatever reason, food packaging received low scrutiny relating to the risks of food safety and consumer satisfaction. As such, packaging materials and component manufacturers, and producers, may or may not have been attentive to the requirements and expectations of safety for the products that they provided. Some may have even felt that the rigorous regulations and precepts for food safety did not apply on the same level to packaging materials. Their perception was confirmed by food safety and regulatory agencies, which did not put the same level of resources and effort into addressing, controlling and evaluating the safety and control of packaging materials as they did for edible components and comestible products.