Labels

Supplement bottles re-energized

Last year, Twin Laboratories, Ronkonkoma, NY, took a product line of nutritional supplements and strengthened it with updated packaging. The change for the line of more than 100 products—only a small sampling is shown in the photo—is dramatic.

November 30, 2003

Leaders (UNIVERSAL TAXONOMY PW): Page 1555

Secondary Packaging

Alberto Culver gains global vision with Web-enabled PDM

Alberto Culver sells hair and skin care products, food, and household products in 120 countries through 14 manufacturing sites and four product development/design centers located around the globe.

November 30, 2003

Filling/capping, liquid & viscous

Companies

Exopack (Spartanburg, SC) acquired the remaining operating assets of Plassein Intl.

November 30, 2003

Coding, Printing & Labeling

FDA sued over health claims

In mid-October, Public Citizen’s Health Research Group and the Center for Science in the Public Interest sued the Food and Drug Administration, claiming the agency broke the law when it lowered its standards for allowing health claims on food labels.

November 30, 2003

Labels

Health claims Web pages

FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) is reorganizing its Web pages to combine information in all categories of label health claims for both food and dietary supplements.

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

Labeling

More U.S.-Canada harmonization

GMA president C. Manly Molpus called on the governments of the United States and Canada to work toward greater harmonization of regulatory standards to promote increased trade and trade efficiency.

November 30, 2003

Flexibles

Retort pouch call for papers

December 15 is the deadline for presentation topics for the Retort Pouch Americas 2004 conference at the Radisson Inn in Princeton, NJ, April 21 and 22.

November 30, 2003

Secondary Packaging

RJRT retrofits its future

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco modernizes case packers and robotic palletizers with updated controls.

November 30, 2003

Controls & Machine Components

More Plug-and-Pack at Pack Expo Las Vegas

Machine builders and packagers buy into the Plug-and-Pack vision of "best practices" automation guidelines for maximum business benefit.

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

Secondary Packaging

Technology redesign incorporates servos

Package Machinery Company’s new servo-driven FA-ST overwrapping machine is equipped with six servo drives, giving it added flexibility and fewer maintenance issues compared to the machine it replaced.

November 30, 2003