Consumers size packages as the people know today were developed in the 1960s for the milk industry in Europe. The first aseptic consumer package was known as a ‘Brix’ pack because its shape resembled that of a building brick.
The work of Olin Ball and The American Can Research Department laid the foundation of aseptic processing in the United States as early as 1927 when heat, cool fill (HCF) process was developed.
While the process of aseptic canning was invented by Dr W. M Martin and developed commercially by Dole Engineering Co, of California, in 1950s.
In 1951, Ruben Rausing in Sweden reportedly conceived the concept for holding milk in a container made from a paperboard composite.
The original package had a tetrahedral shape and was called a Tetra Pak. The packaging material passes though a bath of 35% v/v hydrogen peroxide or wetting agent, after which it is formed around a heated tube to remove residual H2O2.
This new technology was married to aseptic technology, and a new industry was born. The box-shaped package that is so widely available is a laminate of six layers of three materials: paperboard 70% polyethylene 24%, and aluminum 6 %.
Innovations in plastic technology and plasma discharge silica coating technology offer the promise that more foods will be packaged in efficient septic packages during the twenty first century.
History of Aseptic Packaging
