Berry Global container, oxygen barrier label keep sauces fresh

Plastic containers for shelf-stable pasta sauce will be among a wall of glass jars.

August 18, 2019

The maker of Scarpetta pasta sauces cut use of citric acid to keep products fresh with some packaging changes.

Berry Global, injection molding specialist, developed a new container using transparent windows so shoppers could see the sauces from BC Gourmet USA. “It’s one container that does it all—hot fill, HPP, flash freeze, reheat, high-end graphic, just about anything,” says Dave Burke, business development manager at Berry Global.

Verstraete IML developed the oxygen barrier label that makes the package 100 times more airtight than the regular label. The film wraps around the container’s entire exterior and uses a layer of ethylene vinyl alcohol (or EVOH) to reduce permeability.

“There is virtually no oxygen entering the package, so there is almost no need to add citric acid to act as a preservative,” says Thomas Coene, regional sales manager for Verstraete IML in North America. “You really taste the difference!”

The thin EVOH layer is below the 5% guideline allowing the package to be recycled as mono-layer polypropylene.

Printing can be added to the label anywhere on the package, even the base. The container’s “sqround” shape, a cross between square and round, maximizes branding space.

For more information, visit www.verstraete-IML.com.

Rose Shilling is a previous managing editor of Food Engineering Magazine. She wrote feature stories on a variety of topics and tracked the food packaging industry. A journalist with an editing background at news services and newspapers, she also has driven editorial projects in health care and higher education.

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

The lingering effects of the pandemic on food processors were felt throughout 2021, with labor issues, increased automation, ingredient shortages, the need for additional energy efficiencies and technologies to help streamline operations, and more, all having an impact.

A company wants to bring a new cold brew coffee to the market. They have set up the strategy; now, they need to define the specifications for the new product, how they can roast & brew it and if the recipe is producible.