A stand-up bag won the top honor this year in the DuPont Awards for Innovation in Food Processing and Packaging. The Diamond Award for innovation in food packaging went to Spacepack flat-bottom bags by Kobusch Folien GmbH of Warburg, Germany.
The bags, which can be produced from thin films on vertical form/fill/seal machinery, provide stand-up stability for European products ranging from partially cooked potatoes to fresh milk to pet food.
The DuPont Awards were announced Oct. 23. The five winning innovations and three honorable mentions were selected from 41 entries.
Products are evaluated on their degree of innovation, breadth of application and their significance or impact on industry or consumers.
Three other companies were recognized in the food category. A clear barrier for cook-in ham by Wolff Walstode AG of Walsroade, Germany, and DuPont Europe of Geneva, Switzerland, received one of the awards.
The multilayer thermoforming film uses modified nylon to provide a clear barrier to ultraviolet light, eliminating product discoloration. The material improves oxygen barrier properties for better product quality and extended shelf life. It currently is used only for hams.
Pre-made pouches for the U.S. Army's Meals-Ready-to-Eat program incorporate a new oxygen-absorbent additive in their packaging material. The additive eliminates the need for a separate oxygen-absorbent packet, which could be ingested or broken. The barrier pouch provides a three-year-plus shelf life for products such as bread and snack cakes, reducing oxygen to levels of 100 parts per million.
The Amosorb-brand concentrate can be used in sidewalls or lids of rigid containers, flexible film and closure liners. The pouch design consists of a lamination of polyester, polyethylene, foil and a proprietary layer containing Amosorb. The award was given to Cadillac Products Inc. of Troy, Mich.; Army Soldier Systems Command; and Amoco Chemical Co. of Chicago.
A piece of equipment using radio frequency to cook meat earned an award for APV Processed Food Sector of Crawley, England, and Tulip International in Silkebourg, Denmark. Radio frequency re-duces the three- to five-hour cooking time of meat to less than five minutes.
The nonfood category winner was a dispenser for pouched personal-care products by Daiwa Gravure Co. Ltd. of Nagoya, Japan. The cartridge pack system for liquid and viscous personal-care products in refill pouches uses a sharpened edge-tube as a pump dispenser.
Flat-bottom pouches are inserted upside down into a rigid plastic container.
When pierced by the pump tube, the pouch material adheres to the tube and as the product is dispensed, the pouch collapses, allowing all the contents to be removed.
Honorable mentions in the food category were edible oil refill packs by Flex Industries Ltd. and ITC Agro-Tech Ltd., both of Noida, India, and a 1-liter aseptic milk pouch developed by Pro-ductora Agropecuaria Mautam SA de CV of Puebla, Mexico, and DuPont SA de CV of Mexico City. An honorable mention in the nonfood category went to the Soft-Soap-brand aquarium series by Colgate-Palmolive Co., headquartered in Morristown, N.J.; Quality Assured Label Inc. of Hopkins, Minn.; and Sun Chemical of Carlstadt, N.J.