Flexibles

Twist-tie wrap is PLA

With the August launch of College Farm organic hard candies in East Coast markets, JoEl Inc. of Elizabethtown, NJ, is the first North American candy company to offer confectionery wrapped in NatureWorks™ polylactide (PLA) from Cargill Dow.

November 30, 2003

Industries: Page 607

Converting equipment

Henkel cuts fees with new Sil package

The Henkel Group, Düsseldorf, Germany, has cut the costs of packaging fees on its Sil-brand stain-removing laundry powder by using a new package with a moisture-vapor-barrier built into the box.

November 30, 2003

Detergents/cleaners

Color 'caps' new jars for detergent capsules

A striking new PET jar, designed and blow-molded by RPC Containers Blackburn, is now serving up capsules of Persil liquid laundry detergent for Lever Fabergé, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, England.

November 30, 2003

Feeding/inserting/unscrambling

Classes of poultry revisions

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service is proposing to amend the poultry class standards of identity to better reflect poultry sold in today’s market.

November 30, 2003

Coding, Printing & Labeling

COOL update

The fight over mandatory country-of-origin labeling goes on. According to those trying to get Congress to roll back the law and make such labeling voluntary, the producers who originally backed COOL are beginning to realize the costs and liabilities involved.

November 30, 2003

Bakery/Snack

Bag-in-box labeling gets the 'final touch'

New print-and-apply labelers have reduced downtime and boosted overall line efficiency at five of Coca-Cola’s syrup plants around the country.

November 30, 2003

Beverage

Efficiency tops 90% at Edna Valley Vineyard

A first-of-its-kind accumulation table boosts bottling efficiency by 20% and helps attract new business.See video

November 30, 2003

Beverage

Efficiency tops 90% at Edna Valley Vineyard (sidebar)

Club pack illustrates an uncased look

November 30, 2003

Controls & Machine Components

Ink-jet coding goes wireless

Produce grower Mills, Inc., uses standard protocol 802.11b to wirelessly connect four large-character ink-jet printers to the PC that controls them.

November 30, 2003

Bakery/Snack

Letting customers select package design

By using an unusual new Web service, HoneyBaked Ham’s design agency got help on a package redesign from those who’ve bought HoneyBaked products in the past.

November 30, 2003

Prepared Foods

Vial packing extraordinaire

Bio-Rad Laboratories boosted its vial filling/capping/labeling capacity with all new equipment. Highlights include a twin-head labeler and a custom-built tray loader.

November 30, 2003

Labeling

FDA not standing PAT

Food & Drug Administration hopes new cGMP initiative will open door to use of new drug packaging technology.

November 30, 2003

Protective/transport packaging

Microsoft pack wins EPA design challenge

A new shipping package that looks like an envelope and protects like a box won the Environmental Protection Agency’s Cradle-to-Cradle E-Commerce Package Design Challenge, announced at the recent Pack Expo Las Vegas show in October.

November 30, 2003