Ready-to-drink non-carbonated products

There has always been a market for ready-to-drink (RTD) non-carbonated products, but it has been a difficult market to develop because consumers need persuading away from making then- own RTD products using dilutables. 

The market has often been seen as one of low-quality products with an overriding convenience factor, but over the last 25 years packaging developments and increasingly affluent consumers have encouraged the development of this market. Early products in the market were packed in pre-formed plastic cups, pouches or early TetraPaks, but today there is a wide variety of packing options available. 

RTD non-carbonated drinks are usually made by formulations and processes that are identical to the manufacture of dilutables except that the dilution takes place at the manufacturer s rather than the consumer s premises. However, because many non-carbonated drinks often sell in low-price markets, many of 

There are particular problems in the manufacture of non-carbonated RTD beverages that are not aseptically packed. These relate to microbial contamination. Products that have no carbon dioxide in their head space are particularly vulnerable to contamination by moulds and certain types of bacterial infection. For many years it was possible to control such potential contamination by the use of low levels of sulphur dioxide (50 ppm). Changes in European Preservative Regulations now make the use of this preservative in RTD formulations (but not dilutables) illegal unless it is carried over from a fruit component, when up to 20 ppm SO2 may be present. Even at this level, the gaseous preservative is rapidly lost and is quickly ineffective. 

To avoid such microbial problems manufacturers must either employ aseptic packing lines, which are very capital-intensive, or use flash pasteurisation and scrupulous downstream hygiene and close control over formulations. 

---