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100% In-line Seal Inspection of Retort Pouches for Wet Pet Food

Special Dog Company, one of the top pet food producers in Brazil, innovates with in-line inspection of its retortable pouches.

In 2019, Special Dog Company inaugurated an ultra-modern pet food factory with automated processing and packaging.
In 2019, Special Dog Company inaugurated an ultra-modern pet food factory with automated processing and packaging.

Wet pet food manufacturing is a complex process, and it takes careful attention to consistently guarantee a top quality, healthy and tasty product. Sealing of the filled package is the culmination of all processing steps and protects the food’s quality once shipped from the plant. Incompletely sealed packages, and packages with product spillover outside of the seal, both negatively impact the packaging processes. Exposed product results in contaminating machines, lost production, and extra labor in the form of cleaning and manual sorting of bad packages. If these badly sealed packages escape the production site, the impact can be even greater, with potential risk for expensive product returns, recalls, and brand damage. That’s why Special Dog Company invested in a 100% in-line seal inspection to guard the quality of the seals.

Brazil’s Special Dog Company is one of the largest petfood manufacturers in South America, serving 11 countries.Brazil’s Special Dog Company is one of the largest petfood manufacturers in South America, serving 11 countries.Established in 2001, Special Dog Company is today one of the four biggest pet food producers in Brazil, selling in that market plus 11 other countries. In 2019, the company deployed an ultra-modern wet pet food factory to increase the product portfolio to keep growing in the market.

“The sealing of flexible packages is a critical phase in the packaging process,” says Octávio Soberón, Manager of Wet Pet Food Division. “Even with top quality packaging machinery, bad seals could occur from time to time.” Defective seals are often caused by wrinkles, folds, or product in the sealing area, and lead to open or leaking packages.

Wet pet food is especially prone to sealing concerns because the recipes frequently use glutinous sauces or gels. These easily can stick in or around the pack’s sealing area during the filling process.

Bad seals don’t just affect traditional packaging equipment. They are a major concern during the sterilization process, as when the pet food is heated, it might leak and pollute the autoclave. The disruption to production and man-hours for autoclave cleaning has a domino effect in cost. Worse, if compromised packages are not detected they can lead to reduced shelf life and liability for health risks.

“Packaging is also responsible for making sure the product gets from the factory, through transport and distribution, and on to retail and the home without any loss to the integrity of the product,” says Soberón. At the latter end it may also be responsible for providing barriers to oxidation and moisture migration which can affect palatability and the nutritional composition of the product.”

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