en-us http://www.packagingdigest.com Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information. May 12, 2008 http://www.packagingdigest.com/articleXml/LN782704918.html Sustained economic growth and a growing middle class have helped drive demand for perceived healthier and higher value soft drinks, such as bottled water, in emerging markets throughout Asia. In those markets in which affluent consumers are further encouraged to drink bottled water, due to perceived unsafe domestic water supplies, multinational soft drink producers are encountering an immense opportunity. In India - one of the largest and most high profile of these markets - bottled water sales are growing by around 15% annually and yet producers are increasingly being forced to acknowledge that harnessing this opportunity will not be plain sailing. http://www.packagingdigest.com/articleXml/LN789485753.html Package design involves several considerations ranging from protecting package contents to articulating and communicating desired brand impressions. Because of this wide range, package design is a broad term spanning engineered functional attributes (e.g., ergonomics, durability, recyclability) and a package's visual attributes (Bloch 1995). Although we do not want to minimize the importance of other characteristics, the focus of this article is on design elements that create a package's visual appearance. This appearance is often an integral part of a brand's image, such as the hourglass shape of the Coca-Cola bottle and its logo in Spencerian type or the round-shouldered Bordeaux-style wine bottles that bear ornate labels and flourish typography. http://www.packagingdigest.com/articleXml/LN789823085.html Recently, Health Canada announced the conclusions of its assessment of Bisphenol A (BPA). The assessment reaffirmed the safety of BPA used to make polycarbonate plastic (PC) consumer products. In his announcement, Health Minister Clement supported the continued safe use of polycarbonate plastics in bottles and containers clearly stating "Canadians can continue to use hard (polycarbonate), plastic re-usable water bottles and plastic tableware if they so choose." Health Canada's proposed action on plastics relates only to polycarbonate baby bottles and this was deemed as "a precautionary action" as stated by Minister Clement. The health and safety of Canadians is of paramount importance to the plastics industry. The Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA) wants to assure the public that those plastic bottles and containers commonly found in the home are safe for use. http://www.packagingdigest.com/articleXml/LN789485756.html McVitie's Digestives - the biggest-selling digestive biscuit in Ireland - has had a packaging makeover. The new image focuses on the health conscious market by highlighting the ''wholesome qualities of the biscuit''. http://www.packagingdigest.com/articleXml/LN788260709.html Support for alcohol-content-per-serving labeling grows as the Distilled Spirits Council president Peter H. Cressy states that listing the alcohol content per drink would help consumers make responsible drinking decisions.