Potlatch Corp. said its Candesce HFP hygienic food packaging is designed for products where purity and cleanliness are of paramount importance.
Contaminants in packaging has become a major issue in the general. Regulators have been bringing in new laws to try and reduce the amount of bacteria and chemicals that can be transferred from packaging to foods. Contamination can lead to costly product recalls and damage to a brand.
"We recognize the growing need of all food manufacturers and their converting partners to communicate through their packaging the great care they take in producing and delivering healthy, nutritious and safe food products," Potlatch stated in a press release.
Potlatch, a diversified wood and paper company, makes products bleached paperboard used in packaging for milk and juices, foods, pharmaceuticals and toiletries. It also makes softwood bleached kraft market pulp.
The new hygienic line of bleached white paperboard is Food and Drug Administration (FDA) compliant. It is produced on the company's No. 2 board machine at Lewiston, Idaho.
The machine is equipped with stringent process controls and equipment specifically designed to reduce contaminants and bacteria in paperboard production, the company stated in a press release.
Paperboard produced on the machine has been used by converters around the world to make liquid packaging, which demands a high level of hygiene controls.
The Candesce HFP packaging is available in calipers ranging from 10 point to 26 point, and may be manufactured with or without polyethylene coating.
The company has 14 manufacturing or converting operations in six states. Net sales in 2004 were $1.3 billion. Potlatch is also a significant international supplier of bleached paperboard, with 2004 export sales of about $120 million.