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2003 Annual Meeting -  Hyatt Regency Tamaya, New Mexico

Packaging Seminar summary

Mr. Crochiere delivered a presentation and discussion of potential contaminants as they relate to performance issues that center upon the choice to use plastic packaging components. He also described current trends, which include the replacement of glass packaging with plastic for certain strategic points of sale. Other trends are to use one-piece closures that eliminate the need for gaskets. A discussion of barrier properties included active or scavenging properties within their construction. Mr. Crochiere also made the point that, when evaluating packaging materials, cost must coincide with the desired "window" of use for the package. For example, a given material could provide the optimal condition for a long shelf life but, on the other hand, be entirely too expensive to sustain as a packaging material. In essence, it is important to define exactly what your needs are with regard to what that window looks like for each product considered-in short, protect the product in the current shelf life that is expected.

Mr. Crochiere also described the points at which "contamination" can occur within plastic packaging systems. Contaminants were described as any concentration that is present in the product that is different from the expected level. These include materials that migrate through the closure, liner, scavenger, or bottle; components of the closure, liner, or bottle that are extracted into the beverage; and by-products of the degradation of closure, liner, scavenger, or bottle materials. In short, all plastic packaging is permeable to contaminants from within the plastic, the product, and the environment in respect to direction of travel of the compound in question. For example, plastic can degrade over time, with exposure to UV, higher temperature, and humidity that may migrate to the product. Barrier layers that are engineered and applied to the inside of the container, and within the plastic, to slow these ingresses are also influenced by the same conditions. In a similar vein, gases and "flavorings" that might be found in the immediate environment of the package (the odors and perfumes that are often found in the manufacturing and sales environment and some volatile chemical components of wood and paper products) may also travel through the package and likewise find themselves in the product. In reversal, beer flavor compounds and gasses such as CO2 egress across the packaging material, and likewise N2 can ingress through the plastic (maintaining pressure inside the package) and cause loss or accentuation of flavor characteristics, which may be undesirable in terms of product inconsistency. In addition, moisture can be lost through the package and into the environment, which can result in the concentration of the material within the package. This phenomenon is also influenced by temperature and any soluble gasses that are contained within the package. Since all plastics are subject to these issues, the real question is how much of this is acceptable? Mr. Crochiere made a further point that a great deal of empirical knowledge that has been obtained by other food industries can be "tapped" to provide suitable plastic alternatives in the beer packaging process. These issues are clearly challenges, which can be overcome using the right technology and applications of plastic packaging.

Mr. Crochiere also described some of the practical precautions to use with plastics. They include the elimination of excess shear force during the manufacture of plastic containers, immediate use of plastic packaging in lieu of storing empty containers since humidity can degrade certain engineered barrier properties, elimination of UV light exposure since it degrades the plastics and closure gaskets, and paying attention to using effective evaluation processes.

The following questions were given at the conclusion of the seminar.

Q: Are there any trends in barrier selection for the brewing industry?

A: The nylon family is doing well. Nano composite barriers (if everything is perfect) will provide 50% improvement over virgin material. Make sure (again) that you do not store some empty packages before you use them; you will see that barriers are influenced/degraded by humidity. Do not just use the "empty bottle test"-moisture is important. For multilayer closure liners, EVOH is too moisture-sensitive for liquid applications. Saran layers in multilayer closure liners tend to be less moisture-sensitive and work well to block gas migration through the top of plastic closures.

Q: Plastic expands in the first 24 hr. Does the plastic rebound in volume?

A: No, the expansion is permanent. Don't forget about nitrogen, it will give you pressure (due to ingress), but the CO2 will be lost, resulting in low carbonation and potential off-taste.

-Toby Eppard

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