The present disclosure relates to beverage compositions comprising low levels of preservative, without the need for hot or aseptic packing. In particular, the present invention relates to beverage compositions comprising: (a) from about 20 ppm to about 50 ppm of a preservative selected from the group consisting of sorbic acid, alkali metal salts thereof and mixtures thereof; (b) from about 300 ppm to about 1500 ppm of a polyphosphate having the structure; where n averages from about 13 to about 35 and each M is independently selected from the group consisting of sodium and potassium; and (c) water; wherein the beverage composition has a pH of front about 2 to about 5 and a total hardness of from 60 to about 300.