A new era could be dawning for premade food pouches that use emerging electron beam technology for sterilization, led by Italian pouch leader Gualapack.

The company told Packaging Strategies that it is building aseptic filling equipment that incorporates e-beam technology to produce customized, premade pouches in one of the first applications for the technology with pouches. Gualapack’s goal is to have the machinery built by the end of 2010 and installed in early 2011 at a customer location, said Gualapack product engineer manager Stefano Tamarindo. (As an aside, Tamarindo will share this development in a presentation at the 2010 Global Pouch Forum.)

The company, one of the world’s largest makers of pouches with about 620mn produced annually, had been looking to move away from retorting to sterilize its food pouches. Retorting uses considerable energy and water and can affect the organoleptic (or taste) qualities of the food, Tamarindo emphasized. Gualapack decided to switch to aseptic processing; while more expensive on the equipment side, the aseptic process could reduce waste and help minimize production costs, he added. Yet, while aseptic applications are widely used in Europe for PET and other rigid plastic bottles, they are more challenging for pouches, he added.

“With the inside edges and hidden spots on pouches, you cannot guarantee that sterilization is spread throughout the pouch,” Tamarindo noted.

Ultimately, e-beam had emerged as a potential solution. Gualapack contracted with Advanced Electron Beams (AEB), one of the e-beam pioneers that has recently launched food and beverage packaging applications for containers after years of development. The portable, directed emitter technology is fairly low cost and can be integrated with existing sterilization equipment.

Gualapack now plans to become one of the first companies globally to produce premade pouches with e-beam technology.

Packaging Strategies’ Perspective: Food and beverage applications are still among the largest growth segments for pouches, especially the premade variety. E-beam technology could offer a new technology paradigm for the pouch.

PS