Birds Eye updates veggie packs to comply with trans fat, allergen regs

In order to incorporate new trans fat and allergen details on its packaging in light of the January 2006 compliance mandates, Birds Eye Foods, Rochester, NY, had more than 500 labels and packages to update. Some stockkeeping units involved a change to electronic files, though many did not, with only film and printed labels to work with. With marketing strategy consultancy Vertis' (www.vertisinc.com) help, the bags, cartons and labels were updated within nine months—record time, according to Birds Eye. Vertis scanned material and updated packaging graphics with the new mandatory Trans Fat and Allergen labeling statements. In addition to complying with the new food labeling, Birds Eye also revised the majority of its boxed and bagged frozen food packaging. The low-desity polyethylene bag film structure wasn't changed, though Vertis made trans-fat graphical updates directly to the negative film used in the flexo platemaking process. The cartons are made of an array of packaging materials, including coated and uncoated SBS and solid unbleached sulphate. The majority of the flexible packaging is flexo-printed, while the cartons and labels are offset-printed. The number of colors used on the bag film varies, depending on design, from four to 10 colors, with most of Birds Eye brand film packaging being in six to eight. Cartons are printed in four and six colors with most Birds Eye brand packaging using six colors.

The redesign project began in April 2004 and was complete in early 2005. Trans fat updates to items not redesigned were started and completed in 2005, the company tells PD. The packages describe the amount or absence of trans fat in the products and there is a statement added under the ingredient listing, describing any allergen contained in the product, such as milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts or soybeans.