Beverage Manufacturing FAQ: 10 UK Questions on Process, Shelf Life and Rules

Beverage manufacturing FAQ: process questions

1. What is the difference between pasteurisation and sterilisation in a drink?

Pasteurisation is a mild heat step that kills vegetative pathogens and most spoilage organisms. It gives a chilled product, or an ambient one when the drink is acidic enough to stop surviving spores from growing. Sterilisation (for example UHT followed by aseptic filling, or retorting) aims for commercial sterility, so low-acid drinks can sit at ambient temperature, but the heavier heat load costs more colour, flavour and some nutrients.^[1] Performance criteria for a kill step are usually expressed as log reductions: international bodies propose 5 to 8 log₁₀ reductions of the target pathogen.^[2]

Either step only works if it is validated and monitored. In 2019, 21 people in England were confirmed ill with STEC O157:H7 after a damaged seal on a pasteuriser’s flow divert valve let raw milk into pasteurised milk; the batch failed the phosphatase test the day after sampling.^[3] The detail of how heat and HPP compare is in our HPP vs thermal pasteurisation explainer.

2. How do you choose between a shelf-stable and a chilled drink?

Start from the recipe (pH, solids, particulates, heat-sensitive ingredients), the shelf life you need, your route to market and your cost. Ambient products suit grocery, convenience and export; chilled products suit fresh, premium and short-supply-chain drinks. High-pressure processing (HPP) keeps fresh character but the product stays chilled, because HPP inactivates vegetative cells and not bacterial spores; heat-based routes give ambient reach at some cost to fresh flavour.^[1][2] Our guide to hot fill, cold fill, aseptic and HPP compares the four filling routes side by side.

3. How is carbonation added during manufacturing?

Carbon dioxide is dissolved into chilled product under pressure in a carbonator, either inline before the filler or in a carbonating tank, and the drink is filled cold under counter-pressure to keep the gas in solution. Carbonation level is set by the recipe, checked by pressure and temperature at the line, and the bottle or can must be rated for the pressure at the highest storage temperature. Carbonation also needs a stability check over shelf life: see our lemon lime sparkling water carbonation study.

Shelf life and preservation questions

4. Can a drink be made without preservatives?

Yes, if safety and stability come from other hurdles: low pH, a validated heat or HPP step, aseptic or hygienic filling, a good oxygen barrier and, for HPP or lightly treated drinks, an unbroken cold chain. In Great Britain, preservatives that are used must be on the retained permitted-additives list for the drink category and within its limits.^[4] Preservative-free sugary drinks are exposed to spoilage yeasts that make gas and swell packs, as the Slimsy squash recall shows, so a challenge or stability study is worth running before launch. Our hurdle technology guide explains how the barriers combine.

5. What makes a drink’s shelf life short or long?

Acidity, water activity, the treatment applied, the pack (oxygen and light barrier, headspace, seal), the starting microbial load and the storage temperature. A low-acid, lightly treated, chilled drink has a short life; an acidic drink that is heat-treated and well packed lasts much longer.^[1][2] The process name alone never sets the date: two HPP juices with different pH and pressure-hold times will behave differently.^[2]

6. How is beverage shelf life tested and set?

Samples from a representative batch are stored under the intended conditions (and often an abuse temperature) and tested at set time points for microbiology, pH, sensory quality, colour, carbonation and key nutrients or actives. A real-time study runs for the full intended life plus a margin; accelerated studies are useful for screening, not for the final date. The result decides the date mark: a ‘use by’ date for foods that are microbiologically highly perishable and a date of minimum durability (‘best before’) for others, under retained Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, which the Food Information Regulations 2014 enforce in England.^[5][6] See real-time vs accelerated shelf-life testing.

UK regulatory and labelling questions

7. Do you need HACCP to manufacture a drink in the UK?

Yes. Retained Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 requires every food business operator to put in place, implement and maintain a permanent procedure based on the HACCP principles: identify hazards, set critical control points and critical limits, monitor, correct, verify and keep records.^[7] For a drink, the pasteurisation, HPP or sterilisation step is usually a critical control point. Under the Food Safety Act 1990, selling food that is unsafe within the meaning of Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 is an offence, so the records must show the controls worked.^[8][9]

8. What registration or approval does a UK drink factory need?

Every food business must register each site with its local authority. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Food Standards Agency says you must register at least 28 days before trading; Scotland has its own guidance through Food Standards Scotland.^[10] Registration is the norm for soft drinks. Approval is a separate step for establishments handling products of animal origin covered by Annex III of retained Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, such as dairy, so a milk-based drink plant should check with its local authority.^[11]

9. Does the UK sugar tax apply to my drink?

The Soft Drinks Industry Levy applies to packaged soft drinks with added sugar that contain at least 5 g of total sugar per 100 ml and have an alcohol content of 1.2% ABV or less. Drinks at 5 g to under 8 g per 100 ml pay the lower rate and drinks at 8 g or more the higher rate; from 1 April 2026 these are £2.08 and £2.78 per 10 litres. Drinks that are at least 75% milk, milk substitutes and drinks sweetened only by fruit or vegetable juice are currently exempt.^[12]

HMRC has announced changes from 1 January 2028: the lower threshold falls to 4.5 g per 100 ml, and milk-based and plant-based milk-substitute drinks with added sugar come into scope.^[13] Our 2028 levy reformulation guide covers the recipe work. A sugar change can also change your claims: ‘no added sugars’ is only allowed when no mono- or disaccharides or other food used for its sweetening properties has been added, and GB claims must match the GB nutrition and health claims register.^[14][15]

Development, cost and scale-up questions

10. What is the minimum order for contract beverage manufacturing?

There is no single figure: the minimum order quantity is set by each co-packer and depends on the line, pack format, changeover time and the ingredients you must buy in bulk. Ask for it early, together with the minimum run per flavour and per pack size. A pilot batch before the first commercial run lets process, filling and stability problems show up at low cost. On FRL’s pilot and contract manufacturing page we state that pilot batches usually range from 10 to 25 kg depending on the formulation, and that large-scale commercial production runs with our network of third-party manufacturers.

Formulator’s note: before you approach any co-packer, answer three questions: which process can the recipe survive, what shelf life is the brand promising, and what will the label claim. Having those answers shortens quoting, pilot and approval time.

For brands & formulators

If you are taking a drink to the UK market, FRL’s Beverages Manufacturing team helps you choose the process route, run pilot batches and hand the process over to a manufacturing partner for commercial runs. Our beverage formulation and food product development teams build the recipe around the process it must survive, and our sensory research and analytics team checks that the drink still tastes right after treatment and storage.

We run or arrange shelf-life studies, microbiological and carbonation testing through accredited partner laboratories, and our regulatory and scientific research team checks UK labels, date marks, claims and levy status. FRL is based in Chennai, India, and works with brands in the UK and elsewhere.

In this series

• HPP vs thermal pasteurisation: what the evidence says about high pressure against heat for juices and drinks.
• Hot fill, cold fill, aseptic and HPP: the four filling routes compared.
• How beverages are manufactured: the pillar guide to the full production line.
• Is cold-pressed juice safe?: pathogens, HPP and real juice outbreaks and recalls.
• Beverage manufacturing FAQ: ten UK questions on process, shelf life, rules and scale-up. You are here.
• Service: Beverages Manufacturing at Food Research Lab.

1. Petruzzi, L., Campaniello, D., Speranza, B., Corbo, M. R., Sinigaglia, M., & Bevilacqua, A. (2017). Thermal treatments for fruit and vegetable juices and beverages: A literature overview. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 16(4), 668–691. https://doi.org/10.1111/1541-4337.12270 (cited for pasteurisation vs sterilisation, quality cost of heat, factors that set shelf life).
2. EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ), Koutsoumanis, K., Alvarez-Ordóñez, A., Bolton, D., Bover-Cid, S., Chemaly, M., et al. (2022). The efficacy and safety of high-pressure processing of food. EFSA Journal, 20(3), e07128. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2022.7128 (cited for HPP inactivates vegetative cells; 5–8 log₁₀ performance criteria; intrinsic factors pH and water activity).
3. Jenkins, C., Bird, P. K., Wensley, A., Wilkinson, J., Aird, H., Mackintosh, A., et al. (2022). Outbreak of STEC O157:H7 linked to a milk pasteurisation failure at a dairy farm in England, 2019. Epidemiology and Infection, 150, e114. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0950268822000929 (cited for 21 confirmed cases, failed phosphatase test, damaged flow divert valve seal).
4. Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 on food additives (retained in Great Britain). legislation.gov.uk. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2008/1333/contents (cited for GB permitted additives list and conditions of use).
5. Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, Article 24 (retained in Great Britain). legislation.gov.uk. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2011/1169/article/24 (cited for use-by vs date of minimum durability).
6. The Food Information Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1855). legislation.gov.uk. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1855/contents (cited for enforcement of food information rules in England).
7. Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, Article 5 (retained in Great Britain). legislation.gov.uk. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2004/852/article/5 (cited for HACCP-based procedures and the seven principles).
8. Food Safety Act 1990, section 8. legislation.gov.uk. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/16/section/8 (cited for offence of selling food not complying with food safety requirements).
9. Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, Article 14 (retained in Great Britain). legislation.gov.uk. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2002/178/article/14 (cited for definition of unsafe food).
10. Food Standards Agency. (2023, updated 2026, June 25). Food business registration. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/food-business-registration (cited for register each site with the local authority at least 28 days before trading).
11. Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin, Article 4 (retained in Great Britain). legislation.gov.uk. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2004/853/article/4 (cited for registration and approval of establishments handling products of animal origin).
12. HM Revenue & Customs. (2018, updated 2026, March 25). Check if your drink is liable for the Soft Drinks Industry Levy. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-your-drink-is-liable-for-the-soft-drinks-industry-levy (cited for 5 g and 8 g per 100 ml bands, 1.2% ABV, exemptions, rates from 1 April 2026).
13. HM Revenue & Customs. (2026, updated October 28). Changes to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy: policy paper. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-the-soft-drinks-industry-levy/changes-to-the-soft-drinks-industry-levy-policy-paper (cited for 4.5 g threshold and milk-based / milk-substitute drinks from 1 January 2028).
14. Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods, Annex (retained in Great Britain). legislation.gov.uk. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2006/1924/annex (cited for condition of use for the “no added sugars” claim).
15. Department of Health and Social Care. (2020, updated 2026, May 19). Great Britain nutrition and health claims (NHC) register. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/great-britain-nutrition-and-health-claims-nhc-register (cited for authorised GB nutrition and health claims).