Non-carbonated beverage hot filling packaging available

In the past two years, on the domestic supermarkets' beverage shelves, non-carbonated healthy beverages (tea, fruity water, juices) are quietly emerging in the market, in addition to carbonated beverages such as Coca-Cola and Sprite. Taking tea drinks as an example, the output in 1997 was less than 200,000 tons; in 1998 it reached nearly 400,000 tons; in 1999, “Rising Sun,” “Master Kong,” “Unified,” “Huyin,” “Odyssey,” “Gatorade,” “Lu Bicheng,” etc. Some domestic power companies have successively introduced high-quality, multi-flavored non-carbonated beverages to the market. In the near future, non-carbonated beverages will become the mainstream of China's soft drinks.

With the rapid development of non-carbonated beverages, packaging has become a significant problem. Traditional glass bottles, two-piece cans, three-piece cans, and Tetra Pak and other packaging products, due to poor security, lack of intuitiveness, and high cost, weakened the market sales competitiveness and eventually faced elimination; the popular polyester in the market (PET) bottles are not resistant to high temperatures and cannot be sterilized at high temperatures; the use of specially treated heat-resistant PET bottles (PET or PET/PEN blends), in addition to high costs, are also used in a large number of applications in hot filling applications. It is subject to various restrictions. For example, the hot filling temperature range is narrow, the bottle storage life is only 4-6 weeks, the recycling cost is high, and the acetaldehyde precipitates cause chemical pollution.

At the China International Packaging Industry Exhibition that just concluded in Guangzhou at the end of March, the reporter witnessed the hot-pumping made by Polypropylene (PP) materials through a special biaxial stretch-blow molding process exhibited by Huanbao Technology Group (Hong Kong). The transparent and transparent bottle of “ring treasure” has attracted the attention of many beverage manufacturers and great trial interest. "Juanbao" bottles are used for hot filling of non-carbonated beverages.

The author's deepest impression is that the hot-filled plastic lids and labels can be made of PP materials and form a tri-in-one unified recycling system for the “Tuanbao” bottles. This will be the most ideal and economical environmental protection system for hot-fill packaging. .

According to the introduction of general manager of Libao Technology Co., Ltd., Huanbao Technology Group, the company's "Juanbao" bottle used in non-carbonated beverages for hot-water irrigation in addition to the long-term environmental protection requirements, compared with hot-filled PET bottles has the following advantages: First, the cost than hot irrigation The PET bottle is about 20-25% lower. Second, the temperature range for hot filling is widened to 100°C. Third, there is no time limit for the storage period of the bottle. Fourth, the bottle is free of aldehyde precipitant. Long-term use will not harm health.

Regarding the oxygen barrier problem, Li added that the oxygen barrier properties of PET materials are superior to those of PP materials, but PP's oxygen barrier performance is greatly improved through biaxial stretching. Professor Liu Qinjin from School of Food Science, Southwest Agricultural University, and Others conducted experiments on biaxially stretched PP bottles for shelf life quality changes of tea beverages. The results showed that: PP hot-filled beverage bottles were filled under strict hot-filling conditions. Tea drinks have a shelf life of up to six months. It has provided a scientific theoretical basis for the application of "Juanbao" bottles in the packaging of non-carbonated beverages. In Taiwan, the “Juanbao” bottle has been commercialized in mass production for juice and tea beverages.