PETpla.net Insider 01+02 / 2015

ON SITE 41 PET planet insider Vol. 16 No. 01+02/15 www.petpla.net ON site Gea Procomac ABF is first low acid plant in Asia A Gea Procomac ABF (Aseptic Blow Fill) system is now producing low acid products at Pokka Singapore Corpora- tion’s new plant in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. It is the first system of its kind in Asia. Pokka Singapore, part of Pokka Sapporo Food & Bever- age Group of Japan, manufactures and markets a wide range of beverages under the Pokka brand name. The company exports to more than 60 countries around the world and says that its leading position in its markets is driven and sustained by a continuous focus on quality improvement and implemen- tation of innovative systems and processes, along with exten- sive experience in the food and beverage industry. An opening ceremony in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, saw Pokka Singapore celebrate the launch of Jasmine green tea, Chrysanthemum, Oolong tea, Premium milk coffee and Pre- mium milk tea, which are produced on a new PET Aseptic line supplied by Gea Procomac from Italy. The low acid bottles, which are extremely microbiological sensitive, are produced with a 14 cavities Gea Procomac blow moulder at a rate of 28,000 single-serve bph and 13,000 1.5l bph. The Gea Procomac ABF is composed of a rotary aseptic blow moulder with an integrated aseptic filler and capper. It uses dry H 2 O 2 (hydrogen peroxide) preform sterilisation, which it says offers maximum effectiveness in processing both high acid and low acid beverages. The system uses a flow of vaporised H 2 O 2 at controlled temperature, concen- tration, contact time and flow rate to achieve an effective Log 6 sterilisation of the preform at the exit of the oven. After the sterilisation phase, the preforms enter a micro- biological isolator, which encloses the blowing wheel. The stretch-blow machine is the first truly aseptic blow moulding system and it is an integral part of the ABF. All non-clean- able components, such as electrical and mechanical items that require lubrication, are located outside the sterile zone. All surfaces within it are accessible and can be cleaned by automatic foaming and sterilised by an automatic sterilisa- tion cycle with VHP. Sterilisation is performed before every production cycle. The system has undergone and successfully completed a sequence of rigorous decontamination tests on all micro- biological isolator surfaces, including the blower, filler and capper, and on preforms and caps both internally and exter- nally, reaching up to 6 Log reduction on target microorgan- ism (on B.atrophaeus). To enter into commercial production however, the ABF has also had to pass a “broth filling test”, a production fill- ing test with a specific and very sensitive LA product. It demonstrated complete control in terms of critical control points and possible microbiological risk. Over a run of more than 30,000 bottles, the Gea Procomac ABF delivered zero contaminated bottles and thus proved to be a robust and reliable system. www.procomac.com