Liquid Filling - Salad Dressings

 

Liquid Filling machines can be manufactured for a wide range of products covering almost any industry.  These products can be water-based, free-flowing products or thick, viscous liquids.  Sometimes a single product can run the gamut from thick to thin and throw in a few unique characteristics as well.  In the Food and Beverage Industry, salad dressings are one of these type of products.  A liquid filler for salad dressing may be manufactured to handle thin oil and vinegar type dressings, creamy ranches or French dressings, or even an Italian dressing that lies somewhere in between but is full of herbs and spices that need to get into the bottle as well.  Thin, thick or with particulates, Liquid Packaging Solutions has the filling equipment for your salad dressing.

 

The correct filling machine, or at least the correct filling principle, will be determined in large part by the product itself.  In addition, liquid fillers can be manufactured as tabletop filling machinery for low production output, semi-automatic portable machines for slighltly higher output and completely automated inline fillers for high speed packaging lines and higher production outputs.  For free-flowing salad dressings, an overflow filler will often be the best choice.  Overflow nozzles on this filling machine dive to create a seal on each individual container.  As the seal is created, the product is released into the containers until it reaches a specific level.  Once that level is reached, the product "overflows", or recirculates back to the supply tank.  If you are familiar with liquid filling machines you may have heard of the overflow referred to as a fill to level system.  This is an added advantage of the overflow filler, meaning that each and every container will be filled to the same level, regardless of minor differences in bottle volume.  This advantage is useful when salad dressing is packaged in a clear bottle, allowing for uniform product appearance when it reaches the shelves of grocery stores and other retailers.  Overflow fillers are available as tabletop fillers, semi-automatic filling machines and completely automatic fillers.

 

For thicker salad dressings, a pump filler will usually be a better choice of packaging machine.  Pump filling machines will use a single pump for each fill head on the equipment.  Pump fillers can utilize a wide range of nozzle types and sizes, as well as options such as diving nozzles, bottom up filling techniques and positive shut off nozzles to achieve accurate volumetric fills on each container.  These versatile filling machines have the added advantage of being able to handle thin, low viscosity products as well, making it a good choice for those companies that will be filling multiple types of salad dressings.  Depending on the type of pump, this filling machine may also be able to handle products with some particulate, such as the Italian dressing mentioned above.  Pump fillers are also available as tabletop, semi-automatic and automatic filling machines.

 

Piston filling equipment also offers a volumetic fill that can work well with many different salad dressings.  The piston on the filling machine draws back to pull product into the cylinder, then pushes the product out of the cylinder and into the waiting container.  Salad dressings with particulates can usually be handled easily with piston fillers.  Even products with larger particulates or chunks can normally be filled using a piston filling machine.  As with overflow fillers and pump fillers, piston fillers can be manufactured as tabletop, semi-automatic and fully automatic filling machines.

 

For more information on filling machines for salad dressing, or any other product, contact a Packaging Specialist at Liquid Packaging Solutions, Inc., toll free at 1-888-393-3693.