Thousands of professionals in special ingredients will convene in Las Vegas, October 4 through 6, to attend Supply Side West.
Attendees will learn about wide range of products, including dietary supplements, functional food and beverages, personal care, and sports nutrition.
In advance of this show, Nick Strickland, business director, agricultural & industrial packaging for Fres-co System USA, Inc., focuses on how flexible packaging can be particularly beneficial to the protection, the transport and the marketing of dietary supplements. Fres-co’s agricultural & industrial packaging business will be at Supply Side West at booth K108.
First, a definition is in order. “Dietary supplements” are defined as products intended to complement the diet. They may contain one or more of the following ingredients: vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, or amino acids. Note that due to the original act that created the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), tobacco is not included in this definition.
Strickland points out that the FDA requires five key points of information on the packages of dietary supplements. “The FDA makes certain that the consumers of dietary supplements can readily identify the name of the product, the net quantity or amount, the nutrition labeling that we have all become accustomed to, a list of ingredients, and the name and address of the manufacturer, the packer, or the distributor.” Strickland points out that these required label statements must all be either on the front label panel (the principal display panel) or on the information panel (which is usually the label panel immediately to the right of the principal display panel), so that consumers can see it when they face the product.
“An ideal way to package supplement powders is in pouches,” says Strickland. “Pouches are formed from roll stock film, filled and sealed, and then cut individually. The film is a laminated film with two or more layers including an inside layer that can be heat sealed.”
Strickland says the high quality and durability of flexible packaging stock is what makes it particularly pertinent to meeting the FDA’s informational requirements, particularly its resistance to abrasion, scuffing, and other defacement that can obscure the required information. But he points out there is a nutritional benefit as well.
“The protective qualities in these advanced materials help protect the supplements from dehydration, moisture, oxidation or mold,” he says. “For example, if your supplement is a powder, its very nature draws moisture from the air, so multiple layers of water-resistant materials is best. Not only will the product have a longer shelf live, but its nutritional information value is maintained.”
Another advantage good flexible packaging offers both the consumers and producers of dietary supplements is the ability to print detailed information on nutrition right on the package. “If you are going to go through the trouble of meeting these informational requirements, it should be highly readable to the end user. But the producers get a bonus, too. That’s the so-called ‘billboard effect,’ which is a great way to catch your customers’ attention and make the product stand out.”
Finally, when a producer is transporting large quantities of their goods, flexible bags are more easily palletized and stacked, making storage easier. Combined with the benefits to the consumers of dietary supplements, Strickland believes that flexible packaging serves everybody involved in dietary supplements, both producers and consumers, in the end.
Contact us to learn more about how the Termalock industrial sealing system from Fres-co supports the producers, distributors and users of various products that may suffer from mold. While you are on our site, check out the other pages that tell of the wide range of products that the Termalock industrial sealing system protects against dehydration, moisture and oxidation. And while you are at Supply Side West, don’t forget to visit Fres-co at booth K108.
Topics: Flexible Packaging
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