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About

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Excellence in Quality and Service.

Sor-Van specializes in sterilization services. The company's plant has two main industrial sterilization facilities for various products:

  1. Gamma irradiation facility based on the radioisotope Cobalt-60

  2. Cold pasteurization facility based on Electron beam accelerator 

 

Both facilities are used predominantly to sterilize medical products, and are also suitable for extending shelf life and reducing microbial load in food products, medical cannabis, and cosmetics.

 

Sor-Van was founded in the early 1970s as a collaboration between the Israeli government and the Netherlands' Van Leer Foundation. The company was privatized in September 1999, and has been privately owned ever since. Today, Sor-Van works with an extensive client base in Israel and abroad, consistently emphasizing quality and compliance with the most stringent standards, alongside personal service.

 

Sor-Van plant is located inside Soreq Nuclear Research Center
in Yavne, Israel. 

 

Sor-Van focuses on sterilization solutions for the medical field, the food industry, research institutions, and various other sectors, in addition to a range of consulting services.

A Variety of Services for the Medical and Food Industries

  • Sterilization of medical devices

  • Sterilization for aseptic bags (bag-in-box solutions)

  • Sterilization of cannabis inflorescences and medicinal herbs

  • Sterilization of clean room and operating room equipment and accessories

  • Sterilization of raw materials for the pharmaceutical and chemical industries

  • Sterilization of spices

  • Sterilization of cosmetics

  • Crosslinking or scissioning of polymers, improving their properties

Irradiation Technology

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The irradiation room of the company's cobalt facility holds a source that emits gamma rays. Gamma rays are a form of ionizing electromagnetic radiation, similar to X-rays. These rays neutralize microorganisms (germs, bacteria, fungi, and mold) in the treated products. This process is achieved without opening any product packaging, and without any physical or chemical change to the finished packed product. 

 

The company's electron beam accelerator produces high-energy electrons that neutralize microorganisms. This technology is known worldwide as cold pasteurization, as the sterilized product almost does not undergo heating processes. Furthermore, the process does not involve the use of any chemicals, thus preventing the risk of foreign substances being absorbed by the sterilized product. The treatment duration is short in comparison to alternative sterilization processes. Products can be used immediately after the process is completed, without any need to wait.

Measurement

Once the exposure time is calculated, the radiation dose is measured using a fixed-point dosimeter. After the packaged products have passed through the irradiator, they are removed from the tote and the dose is read with a calibrated spectrophotometer. It is important to understand that the measured dose data reflects the dose at the fixed measurement point (also known as SorVan's routine measurement point). Different radiation doses will be measured at different locations of the tote.

 

The reason for this is that each product has a different density and different internal composition, and thus different attenuation to radiation. The radiation dose, measured at different points on the carton, is distributed according to the unique parameters of that carton, and its position in the tote. 

 

Calculation of radiation doses at different locations in the tote is performed after obtaining specific adjusting factors from the dose mapping process. Customers are required to perform dose mappings to their products, as a standard part of the validation process for product sterilization. 

 

Customers which are required to prove sterility of their products, should request a dose mapping to their products and receive their adjusting factors in relation to Sor-Van's standard measurement point.  These adjusting factors will allow to calculate the maximum and minimum doses to their products.

How Does it Work?

Customers' finished products are loaded into totes (carriers). The totes then proceed into the irradiation room for the required exposure period. Exposure time varies in accordance with each customer's particular sterilization requirements.

Certifications

Considerations when
Choosing Packaging Size

The maximal internal space of the tote (in which the package will be placed) is 88 x 45 x 45 cm. It can accommodate a maximum weight of 50 kg. From a technological and qualitative standpoint, it is not possible to send a partially-full tote through the irradiation room.

 

If customer's packages are not big enough to fill the entire tote, his tote will be filled with packages of other customers. Customers can fill the tote with dummy products if required. The guiding principle when choosing packaging sizes is to ensure maximum utilization of the irradiation tote. 

Sor-Van operates according to international standards, under the supervision of the Israeli Department of Health, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and the Ministry of Labor.

 

Sor-Van meets the latest standards of ISO 9001, ISO 13485, and ISO 11137. It is certified and registered with prominent international testing bodies such as the FDA, the Japanese Ministry of Health, and ITC (Institute for Testing & Certification, Czech Republic). 

 

The company undergoes periodic assessments by various international testing bodies (notified bodies) and is approved as a sterilization service provider by various international companies in Europe, the United States, Japan, and Australia.

 

We invite you to benefit from our many years of experience, innovation, and creative problem-solving capabilities that are adapted to suit each product. 

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