Flexible packaging

Fresh pasta maker romances long shelf life

Romance Foods pasteurizes its cooked, packaged pastas using a combination microwave/convection oven to achieve 75-day refrigerated shelf life.

January 31, 2001

Prepared Foods: Page 59

Conveying & accumulation

New look for oyster packs

Induction-sealing is a key element in Minterbrook’s redesigned oyster package. Shelf life is extended, tamper evidence improved, and costs cut.

January 31, 2001

Meat/Poultry/Seafood

Eggs-actly

On Nov. 30, 2000, Food and Drug Administration issued a final regulation requiring safe handling instructions on egg cartons. Within nine months, egg cartons must bear the following statement: “Safe Handling Instructions: To prevent illness from bacteria, keep eggs refrigerated, cook eggs until yolks are firm and cook foods containing eggs thoroughly.” The regulation also requires that eggs delivered to retail establishments be promptly refrigerated at 45°F or lower.

December 31, 2000

Flexible packaging

Kraft-y bottle wins accolades

Kraft Food Services, Glenview, IL, was honored in October with the Package of the Year award from the Atlanta-based Assn. of Dressings and Sauces. Kraft’s patented wide-mouth, high-density polyethylene 1-gal jug includes a handle featuring a thumbprint and finger-grip for easy gripping, along with a screw cap and a pouring-friendly design.

December 31, 2000

Conveying & accumulation

Aseptic drug filling boasts new type of sterilization

Sterilizing a depyrogenation tunnel by means of vaporized hydrogen peroxide is a first at Organon’s recently installed vial filling line.

December 31, 2000

Flexibles

Atlantis starts-up seven-layer film line

A new seven-layer cast coextruded film line is debuting at Atlantis Plastics, Custom Films Division, Atlanta, GA.

November 30, 2000

Dairy

Sweet success for ice cream packs

Since the 1920s, Baldwin Ice Cream has graced the shelves of grocery store freezers. Now, in its first major update since 1994, Baldwin is freshening up both the look and feel of its package with the help of design group MackeySzar (Minneapolis, MN).

November 30, 2000

Feeding/inserting/unscrambling

Relocations, expansions

Zanasi USA (Minneapolis, MN), formerly MarCode, has moved its headquarters to 8601 73rd Ave. N., Suite 38, Minneapolis, MN 55428; phone: 763/593-1907, fax: 763/593-1941.

November 30, 2000

Prepared Foods

Family ties unite CPET tray to peelable lid

REPORTING FROM PACK EXPO: Kahiki Foods, Columbus, OH, introduced family-sized frozen dinner in September, packaged in a dual-oven CPET tray featuring a plastic-coated peelable paperboard lid. The lid is heat-sealed to the CPET tray on a Gralex Model RHS-6 rotary heat sealer, which was on display at the Gralex booth.

October 31, 2000

Prepared Foods

Sour sugar reaction

The food industry strongly objects to a petition by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) that FDA require the addition of “added sugars” to the nutrition label.

October 31, 2000

Coding, Printing & Labeling

UK firms are out to shorten time to market

Sainsbury’s will soon implement a sophisticated RFID tag system to better manage its chilled foods distribution, while ICI Paints evaluates digital asset management.

October 31, 2000

Cartoning

Filler meets tough standards at Stonyfield (sidebar)

Cartoner delivers downstream

October 31, 2000

Cartoning

Filler meets tough standards at Stonyfield

Stonyfield Farm is so confident about the potential sales of its Yo Squeeze organic yogurt for kids that it’s purchased a second vf/f/s machine. Each machine produces 200 tubes/min, with an unusual ‘butt seal.’

October 31, 2000