Bottling of soft drink

Soft drinks generally include non-alcoholic beverages, such as bottled water, sugar sweetened beverages, carbonated beverages, sport drinks, energy drinks, diet drinks, fruit beverages, juice drinks and fruit-flavored drinks.

The first step in the production of soft drinks is the syrup preparation. The syrup is a sugar and water solution, in which sugar or glucose can be used, while diet drinks are prepared using sweeteners or a combination of sugar and sweeteners.

In the bottling step, the syrup is mixed with the main ingredient, water. Conventional soft drinks contain 90 percent water, while diet soft drinks may contain up to 99% water.

Carbonated water constitutes up to 94% of a soft drink. Carbon dioxide adds that special sparkle and bite to the beverage and also acts as a mild preservative. In order for carbonation (absorption of carbon dioxide to occur, soft drinks are cooled using large, ammonia-based refrigeration systems.

Carbon dioxide is a unique suitable gas for soft drinks because it is inert, non-toxic, and relatively inexpensive and easy to liquefy. The carbonation of soft drinks varies from 1.5 to 5 g/L. Carbon dioxide is supplied to soft drinks manufacturers either in solid form (as dry ice) or in liquid form maintained under high pressure in heavy steel containers.

Carbonation is generally added to the finished product, though it may be mixed into the water at an earlier stage. Fruit-flavored soft drinks tend to have less carbonation than colas or sparkling water.

Modern methods of processing are aimed at optimizing all quality factors by use of highly efficient, short‐time processing, followed by pasteurization and aseptic filling.

The finished product is transferred into bottles or cans at extremely high flow rates. Empty bottles and cans are transported automatically to the filling machine via bulk material handling equipment. The containers are immediately sealed with pressure-resistant closures, either tinplate or steel crowns with corrugated edges, twist offs, or pull tabs.

Because soft drinks are generally cooled during the manufacturing process, they must be brought to room temperature before labeling to prevent condensation from ruining the labels. This is usually achieved by spraying the containers with warm water and drying them.

Filling are all performed almost entirely by automatic machinery. Returnable bottles are washed in hot alkaline solutions for a minimum of five minutes and then rinsed thoroughly. Single-use containers are usually air- or water-rinsed before filling.

The filling room usually is separated from the rest of the facility, protecting open product from any possible contaminants.

After the filling process, the soft drinks are sent to the distributor, who can repack the drinks in smaller quantities or deal directly to the final customers.
Bottling of soft drink