modern packaging & design has started a special column to answer readers queries on packaging free of charge. this is from special interest publications division of infomedia ltd. click on the downloads section in this site to view ask the expert. you can directly send your queries to bindhu.unny@infomediaindia.com .barrier treatment machine handles 40,000 bottles an hour a machine for applying barrier treatment to pet containers can handle up to 40,000 bottles per hour, making it the fastest of its kind in the world, its manufacturer claims. the actis 48 from sidal meets the liquid food markets demands for high speed while outputting packages at lower costs, the company said. the actis deposits a thin layer of hydrogenrich amorphous carbon inside a polyethylene terephthalate pet bottle. by reducing carbon dioxide loss and oxygen ingress, the  process extends the shelf life of sensitive drinks like beer, carbonated soft drinks, juice or tea packaged in pet bottles.child friendly packaging made cost friendly too amcor flexibles has launched a new tear open feature for foil drug packaging that it claims is both child resistant and senior friendly and cheaper to make than current methods. available now, the new packaging can be incorporated into multiple formats including pouches, sachets, and tear sticks and is suitable for a wide range of both over the counter otc and prescription drugs applications such as powders, liquids and oral dissolve strips. unlike traditional tear open packs, amcors packaging does not require a tear notch to open. instead it features a printregistered tear initiation point which is accompanied by text instructions and may be used as a standalone tearopen feature, or combined with a fold first or squeeze first operation according to individual customer requirements. in the us each year, approximately 50 children under age six die from accidentally consuming poisonous household products such as medicines. in addition to ease of opening in a childresistant format, this new packaging design eliminates extra material and tooling costs associated with the manufacturing of traditional notched or slit tear opening features, company spokesperson alan pfeil told. plastic packaging additive cuts out taste and odors a new plastics additive removes taste and odor molecules as they pass through food packaging, its developer claims.  the additive could help food companies keep odors within a package or prevent outside ones from affecting their products. usbased ampacet says its masterbatch additive helps control taste and odor issues in plastics film applications for trash bags and flexible food packaging. the masterbatch, ampacet 101787, removes the molecules as they pass through packaging films and other plastic packaging parts. the additive can be used in low density polyethylene ldpe, linear ldpe and ethylene vinyl acetate films used for food packaging.new technique allows photorealistic printing on plastic containers a netherlandsbased company claims to have developed a breakthrough technique for printing containers used for spreads, fats and edible oils. rpc bebo nederland said  its dryoffset technique allows processors to print photorealistic reproductions of complex designs.  the company plans to produce the first test run of the printing technique next week, a spokesperson told.the new technique known as supreme quality printing has been introduced to meet the demand for high impact packaging, increasingly critical as brands fight for prominence on crowded shelves and changes in legislation shorten the product life of packaging, the company stated.packaging machine reduces material use a new thermoforming, filling and sealing machine for packaging cups and other containers can result in savings of up to 35 per cent in material costs, its manufacturer claims. verpackungsmaschinen in germany said its polyflex 848 shapes polypropylene into sleeved cups and other containers in a variety of shapes and sizes. the machine allows the polypropylene to be processed as a singlelayer or multilayer film depending on the product. the machine uses a preheating and deepdrawing technique to mould the packaging in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. the cups are led to the filling station at a rate of 25 per minute. dosing assemblies fill the containers with liquid, pastelike, granulated or lumpy material. 
