Industry experts are an important resource for packaging and packaging services. Between the in-house experts at MJS Packaging and those within our global network, you can rest easier knowing that you don’t have to know it all. With that in mind for this article, we have leaned on our network of experts and focused on getting you answers about bottle sterilization services.
Bottle Sterilization Services Q&A
Many products benefit from a rigorous bottle sterilization process. There are also products, like pharmaceutical packaging, that actually require it. Wherever your business falls on that spectrum, we know how helpful it can be to know your options and have your questions answered.
Here are several key questions we have explored to help get a better understanding. From the answers below to the follow-up questions and interest they inspire, we want to help you make an informed decision.
Why Use Bottle Sterilization?
If you are using bottles and vials for either packaging or handling pure fluids, you must sterilize those bottles.
Keep in mind there are different levels of cleanliness. A bottle might be clean, but it could be clean and sterile. It doesn’t stop there though because your bottles may also need to be clean, sterile, and pyrogen-free. Removing pyrogens is serious business; pyrogens cover a broad range of contaminants that have the potential to make your consumers ill. The level of cleanliness needed really depends on the product being put into the bottle/vial, so be sure to get the right consultation and solutions specific to your needs.
What is Actually Meant by ‘Bottle Sterilization’?
There are many types of impurities with the potential to adversely affect consumers. To name a few, manufacturers should be careful to rid their packaging and product of fungi, bacteria, and other contaminants introduced during the manufacturing process. Bottle sterilization is a broad term for the processes that effectively kill or eliminate these transmissible agents.
What are the Different Bottle Sterilization Methods?
Different circumstances require different bottle sterilization methods. They each have the ability to help rid a product of different types of contaminants and achieve different levels of cleanliness.
Specifically, manufacturers can employ both physical and chemical methods of sterilization. Heat sterilization is the most widely-used and reliable method. Other sterilization methods include gamma irradiation, electron beam (E-Beam) irradiation and Ethylene Oxide processing. We’ll explore the different methods in a future post.
Can I Only Sterilize Glass Containers?
This answer is a fairly quick one, but it also requires some consideration for your product and your specific circumstances. Glass containers are actually not the only type of containers that can be sterilized. The sterilization process can also be a good fit for some plastic containers.
Is it Effective to Just Blow Out the Bottles with Filtered Air?
It might sound like a good idea to use finely filtered air as a “pure” agent to remove contaminants, but we would never recommend it. Filtered air just doesn’t do a good job of removing fine particles. It also does not remove and release agents from the surfaces of bottles and vials.
Instead, you can count on methods like chemicals, dry heat, or steam, to remove contaminants. These methods work because they destroy, displace, and alter contaminants’ physical properties so they release. You can then have impurities successfully removed and mitigate the risk to consumers.
Check off Your One-Stop Shopping List
When you contact MJS Packaging to order vials, bottles, and other containers, we take pride in getting you the right solution. We know that expert consultation can provide a huge difference in your ROI. We are proud to say this extends to the services we provide to customers, too!
Contact us today if you have more questions about bottle sterilization services. And when you place an order, be sure to let us know if this is a service you would like us to add on!
