Pixie Dust lands on flexible packaging

A liquid-to-gas sterilisation process for flexible packaging and its contents has been announced.

US-based flexible and folding carton packaging supplier Performance Packaging has code-named the patented process 'Pixie Dust'.

Products such as dental tools, medical devices and enclosed plastic, glass, or metal objects can now be sterilised within the package, and the method enables aseptic cold-fill processes.

There is no need to irradiate the package, and it doesn't need to be hot-filled. Nor is post-pasteurisation of pouches required since the pouch is already sterile.

Pixie Dust can be used with flexible packaging such as stand-up pouches, bag-in-box, sealed packages, dental tools and medical devices.

Performance Packaging is working with various companies to identify additional markets and partners for the new aseptic process it has developed.

During the testing process conducted by Performance Packaging for Pixie Dust, the test organisms Bacillus atrophaeus ATCC 9372 spores (which are highly resistant to heat and chemicals such as H2O2) were added to the package contents.

A specific quantity of the Pixie Dust agent was then inserted into the package.

After about two days, no viable spores were recovered from any of the treated samples, which included inoculations of 4-litre, hot-fill bag-in-box, 55-gallon-drum bags and 2.5 gallon polyolefin milk bags.

Even corners and gusset fold tests, along with laboratory-scale filling tests of treated pouches revealed no sign of bacterial growth.

The company states Pixie Dust is a cost-saving alternative to traditional shelf-stable methods such as hot-filling, retort processing, peroxide or peracetic baths or sprays, irradiation, pulsed light or electron-beam irradiation.