What is Aseptic Packaging?

The following information is quoted from the Aseptic Packaging Council's website at www.aseptic.org .

Q. What is aseptic packaging?

A. Aseptic packaging is a beverage and liquid food system widely used in Europe and Asia for several decades and introduced to the United States in the early 1980s. This remarkable packaging system allows products once considered perishable to be distributed and stored without refrigeration for periods up to six months or more—even delicate foods such as milk, soy beverages, juice, and nectars.

The aseptic packaging system achieves this room-temperature shelf stability by filling a sterilized package with a sterile food product within the confines of a hygienic environment. Most other package types and systems use preservatives and/or refrigeration to achieve a long shelf life.

The aseptic process is a major advance over traditional canning techniques, such as retort and hot-fill canning. Retort canning typically requires products to be heated in the container for 20 to 50 minutes. Hot-fill canning uses the heat of the product to sterilize both the product and the package, a process which takes 1-3 minutes for heating and another 7-15 minutes for cooling. In contrast, aseptically processed liquid foods and beverages are sterilized outside the package using an ultra-high temperature process that rapidly heats, then cools, the product before filling. The processing equipment allows the time (generally 3 to 15 seconds) and temperature (195° to 285° F) to be tailored to place the least amount of thermal stress on the product, while ensuring safety.

This flash-heating-and-cooling aseptic process substantially reduces the energy use and nutrient loss associated with conventional sterilization. As a result, aseptically packaged products retain more nutritional value and exhibit more natural texture, color, and taste.