Key to the choice of 8oz cans supplied by canmaking firm Ball Corporation as the brand’s packaging was the barrier properties of aluminium, says neuropsychologist Dr Rob Paul, who created the drink, which is manufactured by Nawgan Products.

It means that almost any kind of 'research', no matter how unscientific, could be adopted to question the use of food-contact chemicals.

That’s the view of Dr John Rost, chairman of the North American Metal Packaging Alliance (NAMPA), which represents the interests of canmakers. Writing in the latest edition of NAMPA News he questions the FDA’s recent update on its approach to research into BPA.

The ICan from 4PACK, based in Wolfsburg, uses an end with a plastics circular opening device and a deep countersink.

Spokesman Thorsten Schlesinger says that the design comes with a peel-off PLA tamper-evidence film that ensures the drinking surface is clean.

Profits after tax were 27.5 percent up at $159.4 million.

Connecticut-based Silgan generated $323 million of net cash from operating activities and record free cash flow of $264.1 million.

The Sittard-based company, which offers a wide range of formulation and filling services, is marketing the ready-to-drink (RTD) caffeine-packed product on the domestic market and in Brazil, with plans for a launch in Germany in the summer.

At a celebration ceremony at Zhongyue at the end of January, POSCO’s senior vice president Oh Chang-kwan presented an appreciation plaque to Zhongshan Zhongyue chairman Liang Jiang.

In contrast, more than half of all the aluminium drinks cans in the US are recycled.

As a result, the Friskies and Fancy Feast brands are joining forces to encourage cat owners to recycle more of their cans. The brands have created the ‘Together We Can’ campaign to get cat owners involved.

While sales for the world’s largest canmaker in the final three months were up 2.1 percent to $1.92 billion, with profits after tax reaching $107 million, compared with $9m in 2008, profits after tax for the year were $450m, 36.3 percent up on last year. This was despite a small decline in sales for the year of 4.4 percent to $7.94bn, which exceeded analyst expectations.

Looking to 2010, chief executive John Conway (pictured) said that he expected a solid year of improving performance.

Meeting in Toronto, Canada, the Global Packaging Project organised by The Consumer Goods Forums worked out a common global language that enables various interest groups to discuss the environmental, economic and social impact of packaging.

Companies at the meeting involved in metal packaging included canmakers Ball Packaging Europe and Crown Europe and canstock manufacturer ArcelorMittal Packaging.