Nestlé secures sterile liquid injection technology

Nestlé’s food nutrition unit has signed an agreement with a US company to develop a more sterile and cheaper method for filling packages with the food giant’s liquid and semi-liquid food products.

Nestlé’s food nutrition unit has signed an agreement with a US company to develop a more sterile and cheaper method for filling packages with the food giant’s liquid and semi-liquid food products. The new valve injection system, patented by Medical Instill Technologies (MedInstill), will also mean Nestlé will not have to use preservatives to maintain the sterility of its liquid food products. By simplifying the sterile filling process, the system will also be cheaper than current methods used to inject the liquids into the packages, said a spokesman for the food giant, Hans-Jörg Renk. Using MedInstill’s valve process, closed containers are filled through a stopper with a needle and re-sealed with a laser. The process will be used for Nestlé’s liquid food products for the health-care, infant nutrition and sports markets Renk told. Nestlé Nutrition, the unit involved in the agreement with MedInstill, is responsible for the company’s science-based nutrition products, including Nan, Lactogen, Neslac, Nutren and Peptamen. Under the agreement with the US company, Nestlé gains exclusive rights to MedInstill’s injection method for liquid nutritional products. MedInstill will continue to market the injection technology for use in other markets. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. MedInstill is a private medical sevices firm based in Connecticut.