The case study reported here is one of the first LCAs
of a whole food system. In spite of its limitations, it is
a rather complete study and the collection of site-specific
data contributes to the high quality of data presented.
One of the reasons for the choice of tomato ketchup is
that its life cycle represents a rather common food-product
life cycle: it includes a harvest, a preservation process
(seasonal production), storage, transportation and,
finally, further processing into a consumer product. The
conclusions are of course specific for the tomato ketchup
studied; however, similar results could be expected for
jam and juices. Another reason for the choice of ketchup
was the interest of the Swedish ketchup producer and
their willingness to participate. Without such support, it
would not have been possible to obtain site-specific data