Sustainability Snippets: Tetra Pak's plant-based carton, South Korea's food packaging rules, 'clean energy' flavour enhancement and more feature in our round-up

Fibre first: Tetra Pak tests plant-based barrier to replace aluminium for carton packaging – VP interview​

Tetra Pak is testing a fibre-based barrier to replace the conventional aluminium layer on its aseptic carton packaging in a bid to slash carbon emissions while still maintaining shelf life.

The aluminium layer is critical in keeping the contents in the cartons safe for consumption. Despite being thinner than human hair, the aluminium layer contributes a third of the greenhouse gas emissions linked to materials used by Tetra Pak.

Zero tolerance: South Korea imposes full ban on non-compliant food and beverage packaging materials​

The South Korean government has imposed a complete ban on food and beverage packaging made using recycled materials that are not in full compliance with national standards.

Earlier this year, South Korea’s Ministry of Environment (MOE) announced the enforcement of more stringent regulations to establishing food and beverage as recyclable, which is expected to see more types of packaging falling into the undesired ‘difficult to recycle’ category as this would mean higher costs for the manufacturers.

In its most recent move, the government has formally promulgated the local Food Sanitation Act to include regulations which govern the use of recycled materials in food and beverage packaging, under the power of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS).

Going green: Flavour enhancement products need to be both ‘clean label and clean energy’ for China and Middle East​

Flavour enhancement products today need to not only cater to consumers’ clean label demands, but also be made using clean energy if firms wish to capitalise on the current wellness and sustainability trends that are on the rise in the China and Middle East markets.

This is according to flavour enhancement specialist firm Angel Yeast, which has made a bid to increase the ‘cleanliness’ of their products – both in terms of content and manufacturing process – in order to maximise market value in some of its largest markets.

“[Clean label is not just a trend], it is a mainstream trend in many of the markets that we are operating in, including China and the Middle East,”​ Angel Yeast Europe Division and company spokesman Eric Ao told FoodNavigator-Asia​.

Food supply woes: Japan’s food self-sufficiency goals suffer setback after 2021 rate hits decade-low​

Japan’s longstanding ambitions to boost its food self-sufficiency rates by 2030 has suffered a major setback after government data revealed it has dropped to its lowest value in a decade.

Japan has long acknowledged that the country has seem food self-sufficiency rates drop continuously over several decades and has been trying to reverse it.

Why COP27 is a ‘critical turning point’ to connect nutrition and climate change​

The United Nations will host its 27th Climate Change Conference in a matter of months. As leaders gear up for COP27 in Egypt, food industry experts want to see an increased focus on food system resilience and transformation. Here’s why.

Food and agriculture are essential to meeting the climate goals set out under the Paris Agreement, with the ambition of limiting global heating to 1.5°C. Food production is linked to 35% of total manmade greenhouse gas emissions. And it isn’t just how we make food that’s the problem. How we consume it needs to change too.