Seals, desiccant and cotton
Updated
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What the archetype says
Packer bottle, induction seal, desiccant and cotton. Four components, and it is the most prescriptive process note in this library because this format has settled on an answer.
The induction seal
A foil membrane bonded to the container land, giving tamper evidence a customer can see and a moisture barrier that holds with the cap off. 60 of the 211 closures on this shelf carry an HIS liner, and it needs a sealing machine rather than a torque setting.
Which matters for probiotics in particular
A live culture loses viability with moisture and heat, so the seal is preserving a count on the label rather than only keeping the contents tidy. That is the same logic as the brake fluid seal protecting a boiling point.
The desiccant
Sized to the headspace, with a capacity, and absorbing from the moment it is exposed. A sachet left open on a bench before packing can be saturated before the bottle is closed, which is a handling failure rather than a specification one.
And it has to be the right kind
A desiccant intended for a pharmaceutical or supplement pack is a different article from one packed with a pair of shoes. It also has to be visibly not food, because customers do swallow them.
The cotton
Filler to stop capsules and tablets moving in transit, which chips tablets and splits softgel seams. It is also the component most often dropped for cost, and the damage it prevents shows up as returns rather than as a packaging complaint.
Headspace is the variable behind all three
A part-filled bottle holds air, and air holds moisture and lets the contents move. Choosing a container sized to the count rather than part-filling a larger one makes the seal, the desiccant and the filler all work less hard.