The UK Health Protection Agency (HPA) has been ordered to pay ₤45,000 (€54,000) after accidentally spilling up to one billion doses of E.coli 0157 at one of its laboratories.
Demand for shelf-life evaluation procedures such as challenge testing is on the up as food processors come under increasing regulatory and financial pressure to ensure safety and minimise waste, said Campden BRI.
SABMiller has introduced a series of projects and schemes in a new sustainability report as it aims to reduce emissions on beer by 50 per cent by 2020, cut water use a quarter by 2015, and take advantage of lightweight packaging.
Guala Closures Group has said its takeover of Bulgarian company Danik had been carried out as part of its expansion strategy in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
A breakthrough technology that coats polymer films with an ultra-thin clear barrier layer to enhance product shelf-life has been unveiled by the Fraunhofer Institute for Electron Beam and Plasma Technology.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) under pressure could rise to the top in terms of alternatives to conventional heat treatments for liquids but must be used in unison with stress inducers such as modified atmosphere packaging and lower pH to render microbes ineffective...
Converters and manufacturers will be able to measure the real-life performance of packaging barrier products with greater speed and accuracy thanks to an enhanced water vapour transmission rate (WVTR) instrument, said Mocon Inc.
Sonoco said good forecasted growth in the US markets for CPET and multi-layer barrier polypropylene containers for ready-to-eat (RTE) frozen foods were two key factors that triggered its takeover of Associated Packaging Technologies (APT).
Mettler Toledo said its new beverage inspection system can meet high speed filling requirements, and includes new beam geometry to ensure beverage makers are regulatory compliant.
A unique two-in-one sleeving and roll-fed labelling system offers significant cost and material savings, flexibility and a quick return on investment, said manufacturer Sidel.
Having just obtained FSC chain-of-custody (CSC) certification at its main European sites, Elopak is now taking on the higher hurdle of worldwide certification.
SIG Combibloc has unveiled plans to invest €90m in a giant packaging plant in Brazil as it seeks to tap into an explosion in demand for aseptic carton packs in South America over the next few years.
Increasing customer demand for integrated and flexible systems were the drivers behind developing new vertical flat pouch equipment for packing a range of free-flowing goods including granulates and powders, said Bosch Packaging Technology.
High throughput capacity, versatility and a special feature to enhance gentle handling of product are benefits of a new separator for clarifying wine, grape must and fruit juice, said manufacturers GEA Westphalia.
A European Union proposal to impose import duties on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) shipments from Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is expected to result in cost increases for European converters, said Brussels.
X-ray transparency and added durability are benefits of a new conveyor belt that helps improve performance for contaminant detection in glass containers on food and pharmaceutical lines, said Mettler Toledo Safeline.
The risk assessment framework for nanotechnology in Europe – like so much else connected to the technology – appears to be in its infancy but developing at a rapid pace.
European packaging converters could be facing gaps in supply of recycled PET (rPET) as a perfect storm of soaring exports to the Far East combined with other market conditions has hit material availability, warned one trade body.
The benefits for nano-packaging, showing how it can overcome current food and drink industry challenges in terms of shelf life, distribution or sustainability, need to become more apparent in order to ensure widespread commercial implementation, says...
Nanocoatings on food processing equipment hold huge potential for boosting safety and performance but lingering doubts and cost concerns among industry players are hampering take up, said an expert
Nanotechnology has been a buzz word in the food industry for years but that has done little to turn ideas in a lab into commercially viable innovations.
A Greek food company has cited a significant increase in sales of its meat products, improved shelf life and a dramatic reduction in product returns as the benefits of using high pressure processing (HPP).
A study has been published with the support of leading US packaging trade groups that uses life cycle inventory (LCI) data to underline the sustainability benefits of incorporated recycled materials into PET and HDPE packs.
Preliminary findings from a UK government funded project focused on extracting value from seafood and beverage processing waste shows the process could potentially recover nutritional components such as glucosamine.
New research which compared labour practice in the French and UK food processing industries found French permanent employees are better paid, worker fewer hours and were better off in terms of both job quality and security that their UK counterparts.
Owens-Illinois, the world’s larger producer of glass packaging, has unveiled far-reaching plans to slash its carbon footprint over the next seven years.
Reacting to suggestions that industry may be approaching the natural limits of lightweighting, Euromonitor has argued that there is still plenty of scope to reduce the weight of PET packs, glass bottles, and beverage cans.
Growth in the emerging economies of southeastern Europe has spurred Mocon to sign an exclusive deal with Greek company Morenos Ltd to distribute its instrumentation in the region.
Producers must ensure packaging is more sustainable as customers remain convinced that food packing is excessive and are altering their consumption patterns as a result, warns research from Datamonitor.
United Biscuits is aiming to switch to rPET for all its thermoformed trays by the end of 2010 in a bid to scale up the amount of recycled packaging in its range.
The green credentials of disposable PET bottles have improved in Germany over the past two years to such an extent that they now stand on a par with multi-use glass bottles, according to life cycle analysis from the from Institute for Energy and Environmental...
Lightweighting can be a win-win strategy, reducing the impact of packaging on both the environment and profit margins but food and drink companies are learning that it is not always the best way forward.
