Beverage Bottling

• Beverage bottling begins by treating and filtering water to meet stringent quality control standards that exceed the quality of the local water supply. Achieving this high quality of water is a critical step that ensures consistent taste profiles of the finished products. Once treated, machines pipe the water into stainless steel tanks of varying sizes, which facilitates usage during different stages of the bottling process. During the next stage of bottling process, the beverage moves to smaller holding tanks, called batching tanks, where additional various ingredients are mixed. The syrup can include ingredients such as the liquid sugars fructose or sucrose, non-nutritive sweeteners such as aspartame or saccharin, color, flavors, nutraceuticals, such as amino acids, preservatives, as well as a host of other ingredients. Once the syrup is ready, the addition of more water creates a finished solution. If the beverage container will contain a carbonated product, the solution cools using large, ammonia-based refrigerated systems. Carbonation, or the infusion of carbon dioxide (CO2) into a liquid, is what gives carbonated beverages their effervescence and texture. CO2 is stored in a liquid state and piped into carbonation units as needed. The beverage bottling process controls the required rate of CO2 absorption into the product. Beverages may contain from 15 to 75 psi of CO2. Fruit-flavored soft drinks tend to have less carbonation than colas or sparkling water. Once carbonated, the beverage is ready to be bottled. The filling room is usually separate from the rest of the facility, protecting the open product from any possible contaminants that may occur during bottling. This highly automated operation requires a minimal number of personnel. Filling room operators monitor the equipment for efficiency, adding any required ingredients during the beverage bottling process. Empty beverage bottles automatically return to the filling machine via bulk material-handling equipment. Shrink-wrapping after the bottles are automatically racked, are then The finished case is palletized, plastic-wrapped, and is now ready for shipping.