Confection/Candy

Kissing an old design goodbye

With a focus on strategically managing the equity that has been established within its Kisses brand chocolates, Hershey’s partnered with LPK to reinvigorate the brand’s packaging.

September 30, 2003

Industries: Page 621

Flexibles

Pita-perfect design

To help develop brand identity and packaging graphics for its new Pita Snax Brand Pita Chips, Pita Products of Farmington, MI, looked to Flowdesign, Inc.

September 30, 2003

Prepared Foods

Web Plus: Reverse auctions: Love 'em or hate 'em

Reverse-auction buying of packaging seems to have a toe-hold among manufacturers. It may even be on the verge of becoming a trend, according to a Web-based survey conducted on Packworld.com earlier this summer.

September 30, 2003

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Warnings dropped for olestra

The Food and Drug Administration announced that, effective immediately, packages of products containing olestra, a fat substitute developed by Procter & Gamble, need no longer bear a required label statement indicating that olestra may cause some gastrointestinal difficulties, that it inhibits the body’s absorption of vitamins A, D, E, K, and other nutrients, and that these vitamins have been added to compensate for olestra’s effects on these nutrients.

September 30, 2003

Bakery/Snack

New "smart" label

Frito-Lay introduced a new “smart snack” icon on packages of some of its foods. The yellow, green, and pink icon says “Great Taste, Smart Snack” with information on fats and cholesterol in the product.

September 30, 2003

Meat/Poultry/Seafood

Bumble Bee gets test nod

FDA is allowing Bumble Bee Seafoods to test market a product called “Bumble Bee Chunk Light Tuna ‘Touch of Lemon’ in water, with natural lemon flavor” that deviates from the standard of identify for canned tuna.

September 30, 2003

Meat/Poultry/Seafood

No more meat pizza standard

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has eliminated the standards of identity for “pizza with meat” and “pizza with sausage,” effective October 22, 2003.

September 30, 2003

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Blood container labeling

FDA proposed to revise its rule on the labeling and storage requirements for blood and blood components to make it easier for the blood industry to comply with regulations, reduce the costs of compliance, and manage the supply of plasma to enhance the safety of the blood supply.

September 30, 2003

Sustainable Packaging

Repeal of foam packaging ban sought

Shaw’s Supermarkets is asking the town of Freeport, ME, to change its 14-year-old ban on plastic foam packaging in retail stores. Shaw’s is opening a supermarket in an area covered by the ban and said the ban hampers the chain’s ability to provide safe meat.

September 30, 2003

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Pipeline: The elusive 'nickel' tag

Hot on the heels of a tech-stock surge, media outlets of all stripes have carried stories about the “possibilities” for radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags or labels.

September 30, 2003

Blisters/clamshells/thermoforming materials

'Catch and release' packaging

Seafood processor Plitt shifts from waxed corrugated to returnable crates to save money, time, and damage.

September 30, 2003

Detergents/cleaners

Mohawk Paper reinvents its labeling operation

Glue-applied pre-printed labels were both unattractive and a drag on efficiency at Mohawk Paper, so the firm switched to online print-and-apply technology.

September 30, 2003

Dairy

Reaching Peak efficiency

First-in, first-out accumulation gives Peak Foods the time it needs to weather temporary packaging disruptions. TE shrink banders dramatically lower rejects to less than 1%.See in-plant video

September 30, 2003