Importance of Food Packaging and Packaging
One of the most important issues in healthy food consumption is the importance of packaging and packaging. Very few of the media reports on healthy nutrition are related to the process of reaching foodstuffs to consumers. The nutritional values and benefits of the ingredients are listed in the introduction of organic products which are very trendy in recent days, but it is hardly mentioned about how these products are packaged, under which conditions they are stored and how they are delivered to consumers and what their wastes are.
However, packaging and packaging processes are serious processes with many consequences in the food sector. In order to understand healthy and correct packaging practices, it is necessary to focus on the functions of food packaging and packaging activities.
The main purpose of food packaging is physical protection. In other words, the first objective is to protect the packaged foodstuffs from external factors. Packaging provides protection against impacts of foodstuffs, pressure, temperature and weather conditions, bacteria and molds. It also protects the foodstuff from water, steam, dust and the like. Furthermore, some packages contain moisture desiccant or oxygen absorbers to extend the shelf life of foodstuffs.
One advantage of packaging is that small size packages are combined into a larger package for easy transport.
Furthermore, information such as how to store, transport, consume, recycle conditions, production and expiry date and product content are included on the packaging.
The most appropriate solution for the problems that will arise during the transportation of foodstuffs or that will occur during the shelf life in the markets is packaging. We guarantee the authenticity of the products and whether they are opened in any way. This is an important point for product safety. The packaging produced in modern enterprises has features such as barcode indicating the production process or RFID chip (radio frequency identification) against theft. In the absence of these, the authenticity of the product is suspected.
What is EN 15593 Food Packaging Standard?
Today, food packaging is produced with healthy and modern packaging techniques. Although these may vary from country to country, studies are also underway to ensure that certain standards are available. One of these standards is the EN 15593 Food Packaging standard developed by the European Committee of Standards (CEN). This is a standard that has achieved hygiene management and international recognition in the food packaging industry. This standard is based on the principles of hazard analysis and risk assessment. It requires identifying appropriate control points and measuring at each level in the production process. It can be easily integrated with management system standards such as ISO 9001 Quality Management System and ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System. However, it is not a requirement that these systems be installed in the enterprise.
EN 15593 standard is primarily focused on packaging activities. However, it can also be applied to other packaging components and suppliers of packaging manufacturers.
It is essential for the supplier companies involved in the various processes of food production to produce, pack, distribute and sell food in a way that does not create a risk for food safety and food health. In these processes, it is of particular importance that foodstuffs are packaged and packaged with modern methods in terms of hygiene conditions and delivered safely to consumers.
EN 15593 Food Packaging Certificate is a document proving that the companies producing packages and packaging on behalf of food producing companies make production based on the necessary hygiene conditions. In other words, the EN 15593 certificate is used to ensure the safety of the packaging and packaging activities of the products.
This standard has been published by the Turkish Standards Institute in our country with the following title: TS EN 15593 Packaging - Hygiene management in the production of packaging for foodstuffs - Requirements. This standard covers the requirements of the hygiene management system for the production, storage and transportation of food packaging companies and their suppliers.
The scope of the EN 15593 standard is as follows:
- Scope, referenced standards and documents, terms and definitions
- Hygiene management system
- Management responsibility
- Checking documents
- Traits
- Management of nonconformities and incidents
- Traceability
- Internal audits
- Complaint management
- Approval and monitoring of suppliers
- Outsourcing
- Product monitoring and measurement
- Human resources
- Hazard analysis and risk assessment
- General
- Applications
- Sources of contamination
- Physical contaminants (foreign bodies)
- Chemical contaminants
- Biological contaminants
- Storage and distribution
- Cleaning
- Maintenance
- Scrap and waste processing
- Factory requirements
- External fields
- Buildings
- Equipment
- Facilities
- personel
- Access points and specific routes
- Work clothes
- Personal items
- Toilets and cupboards
- Eating, drinking and tobacco use and medicines
- Injuries and diseases
- visitors
EN 15593 Food Packaging Certificate of the main gains are the following businesses:
- Reduces business responsibilities and operational risks
- Efficiency of hygiene management system approved
- Consumer health is protected
- Expectations of the food sector are met
- Increases the confidence of food producing companies in packaging materials
- Increases productivity of the firm, outperforms its competitors
In short, the EN 15593 standard ensures the hygiene management of the company in the production of packaging used in the packaging of foodstuffs. For all manufacturers in the food chain, food safety and health is now the most important and essential criterion. With the awareness of consumers and the development of their needs, food safety has become more important. In this sense, packaging companies have started to be involved in the food safety process. Today, the EN 15593 standard proves the hygiene of packaging materials in terms of food safety.
