We share our Top 13 articles from 2019 that caught readers' attention — from the top beverage and food packaging companies of the year and the outlook for 2019 to some neat designs and trends. Enjoy the read!

PMMI, the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, addresses five packaging pain points in senior-friendly health care packaging.

Cheese producer and supplier Jermi regularly supplies supermarkets with sliced cheese such as Gouda and Edam. Plastic blisters containing varying types of cheese are packaged in display cartons for this purpose. Jermi needed a new packaging line in order to make the existing production significantly more efficient.

Blister Packaging for Certain Immediate Release Opioid Analgesics for Treatment of Acute Pain – Docket No. FDA-2019-N-1845 as it relates to opioid packaging, and recently passed Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients (SUPPORT) Act, passed in late 2018.

There are a wide range of solutions that can be used to increase the shelf life of capsules, tablets, pills and other pharma products. Among these are PVC, PCTFE, PVDC and thermoform blisters for less sensitive products or Alu-Alu cold form blisters for APIs that are more sensitive.

Fruit Slabs start as a cannabis-infused fruit blend with no added sugar that is then dried into a bite-sized square. 

The global pharmaceutical packaging market is set to grow over 5% year-over-year in 2019, and bottles will remain highly sought after, followed by blisters, vials and ampoules.

Clariant announced a new flat-profile molecular-sieve desiccant, ADP Plate, along with an expanded line of Dri-Card laminated-film desiccant cards. Both products are FDA compliant.

While the growth in online purchasing drives changes from product design, to package changes, picking, fulfilling and shipping, product protection stands alone as the main issue, according to the E-Commerce: Think Inside the Box report by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies.

Tamper evident packaging is a stalwart of safety and awareness in packaging. It features strong materials that keep the products inside safe and alerts consumers to contamination or foul play. But what exactly is it?