Managing contamination risks from food packaging materials

The pulp, paper, and board industry supplies basic raw materials for packaging and hygiene applications. Packaging serves as a major defense against external hazards. However, undesirable interactions between packaging material and food can give rise to potential problems, such as migration of packaging components or penetration of microorganisms, insects, and rodents through packages. The importance of hygiene in the paper and packaging industry has increased considerably as a result of more specific demands in legislation, tighter international competition, and increasing customer requirements. Traditionally, paper and packaging manufacturers have not necessarily considered safety and hygiene requirements as such an important factor as is considered in the food industry, but as more emphasis is placed on food safety and hygiene, an awareness of the critical role of packaging is increasing among the paper and packaging manufacturers. Manufacturers of packaging materials for food have become increasingly conscious of customer demands relating to concerns of food safety. As important raw material suppliers for the food industry, manufacturers of packaging materials are expected to bring their standard hygiene in line with the expectations of the food industry. This chapter focuses on clarifying potential microbiological and hygienic risks related to packaging materials and especially on how the extremely high hygienic level of food packaging materials is achieved in the paper and packaging industry.