Jul 1 2010 --- Mizkan Americas, Mt. Prospect, Ill., a leading condiment manufacturer, has started using 16oz long neck Powerflex polyethylene terephthalate (PET) hot fill bottles from Amcor Rigid Plastics, the world’s leading producer of PET packaging, for its Buccaneer Blends barbecue sauces. Mizkan recently moved from ambient fill bottles to hot fill containers for the Buccaneer Blends line - a product acquired by Mizkan in the January purchase of World Harbor Sauces & Marinades, Auburn, Maine.

"To ensure product quality, we decided to switch from the ambient fill to the hot fill process," said Dave Rotunno, director of marketing for Mizkan. "Amcor’s Powerflex bottle handles the hot fill process and offered the best solution to meet our manufacturing needs." The long neck PET bottle is finding increased use as a hot fill option in this food category, according to Amcor. The rest of the former World Harbors’ line of sauces and marinades are bottled in ambient fill PET containers

Amcor’s Powerflex bottle features a patented panel-less design which takes hot fill (185 deg F) bottle options to a new level. Amcor’s structural design eliminates the panels, and unlike competitive containers, provides a large, completely smooth rib-less label area.

Amcor used design and manufacturing techniques to create a patented bottle that absorbs vacuum via a specially designed base. A unique diaphragm within the base draws upward as the liquid cools. It has the geometric characteristics to enable the inverted cone-shaped diaphragm to deflect upward as the vacuum is created.

Unlike conventional hot fill PET alternatives, PowerFlex bottles are easier to label since they don’t have sidewall vacuum panels. Packers don’t have to worry about mislabeling, that is; missing the vertical bars in applying labels. Nor do they have to deal with the ripple effect that occurs when labeling over panels.

The stock Powerflex bottle has a 38-mm finish and features a screw-top closure and a tamper-evident, plastic heat-shrink neck band. The long neck bottles deliver significant performance and cost advantages including portability (no breakage), light weight, recyclability, and reduced transportation costs. Consumers are drawn to the attractive, lightweight, and unbreakable features of the PET bottle compared to traditional glass containers.