Closures

Supplier news: Relocations, expansions

MCG Closures' (West Bromwich, West Midlands, England) purpose-built plant at West Bromwich, for the production of the plastic, one-piece MECO closure, now has four fully commissioned Husky injection-molding machines for round-the-clock production.

December 31, 1998

Closures: Page 124

Filling/capping, liquid & viscous

Small package poses big challenge

Ecoly Intl. was in a sticky situation. The company needed to downsize its 10-oz Oak Tree Finishing Aerated Hairspray into a 1.7-oz version for use in a travel kit, without losing rich package graphics and extensive copy.

December 31, 1998

Closures

Supplier news: Relocations, expansions

In order to accommodate its planned growth in pharmaceutical closures and bottles, Kerr Group, Inc. (Lancaster, PA) will establish a Pharmaceutical Packaging Business Unit based in Lancaster, PA.

December 31, 1998

Bag/pouch fill/seal (pre-made bags)

Fresh Express tests a transverse zipper

A leader in fresh-cut produce, Fresh Express Inc. of Salinas, CA, now is testing a zipper reclosure feature on 1-lb bags of garden salad. The pack is among the first to use the Z-Patch partial-width zipper, which comes from Z-Patch, Inc.

December 31, 1998

Labels

New graphics please packager and its customer

"The consumer gets a better package and we benefit as well."That's how Beaverton Foods' chief executive officer Bill Small describes his firm's recent switch from screen-printed glass jars to jars deco-rated with full-body shrink-sleeve labels for 16 varieties of Inglehoffer brand condiments.

December 31, 1998

Closures

In brief

FDA has granted citrus juice processors an eight-month extension (ending July 8, 1999) to comply with a requirement to put warning labels on unpasteurized juiceso/ooThe Center for Science in the Public Interest petitioned FDA to either ban or require specific label disclosures for the food colorings cochineal extract and carmine that can cause severe allergic reactions.

December 31, 1998

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Flex America Inc: Flex America Inc: Pressure-sensitive labeler

EPI's (New Freedom, PA) Flex-Pac Labeler(TM) is designed to integrate with Sandiacre packaging equipment used widely in the frozen food, produce and candy markets.

November 30, 1998

Sustainability

Brewers pouring into plastic

Brewers around the world have been on the fence about plastic bottles. Suddenly they're commercializing a variety of plastic barrier structures.

November 30, 1998

Closures

Miller's plastic beer bottle solves first of three marketplace puzzles

Those of us who thought Anheuser-Busch would be the first American brewer to market beer in plastic bottles at retail were surprised when, in early November, A-B turned out to be no more than a very interested observer as Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI, commercially introduced three beers in unique, five-layer, oxygen-scavenging plastic bottles from Owens-Illinois' Continental PET Technologies, Inc.

November 30, 1998

Feeding/inserting/unscrambling

Silver cleaner polishes its look

Silver Blue's complete overhaul eliminates leakage and breakage while improving esthetics.

November 30, 1998

Closures

Dairy debuts an ESL 'first'

Extended-shelf-life milk in gabletop cartons offering 60-day shelf life has been a proven pack- aging format for years. With the recent launch of its Moovers(TM) brand, Smith Dairy Products of Orrville, OH, wants to offer the same 60-day refrigerated shelf life for milk in bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate.

November 30, 1998

Flexible packaging

Prime Equipment, Inc: Hf/f/s

Prime Equipment's (Spokane, WA) PV-8500 horizontal form/fill/seal system for reclosable zipper pouches runs at speeds up to 22 cycles/min and accommodates flexible, semi-rigid and rigid materials.

October 31, 1998

Converting equipment

Welch's 'concentrates' on plastic can

Under development for nearly eight years, an all-plastic, easy-open, microwavable canister is now appearing in East Coast freezer cases holding several varieties of frozen juice concentrates for Welch's, Concord, MA.

October 31, 1998