Before bottling, soft drinks will often go through a final stage sterile filtration process to remove any last impurities. This is essential to maintain the quality of the drink that has been laboriously cultivated throughout the production process. It also helps ensure the stability and shelf-life of the product once it has been bottled.
The sterile filtration stage, also known as stabilisation, prevents any future spoilage once the drink has been bottled. Spoilage is a metabolic process that can cause beverages to become undesirable or unacceptable for human consumption due to changes in sensory characteristics. To prevent this, particle and micro-particle filtration removes any residual bacteria and other organic impurities like heat-resistant moulds before the product is bottled.
