Food processing - Articles and news items

Seals and seal design for use in the food and beverage industry

Latest issue / 4 January 2012 / Dr. Till Riehm, EHEDG Subgroup Seals

Plant operation managers are ultimately responsible for the quality of the products they manufacture. Every food item, pharmaceutical, or cosmetic product must be shipped in perfect condition and safe for humans and animals. Neither toxic substances nor microorganisms should be present at levels that could affect the product quality or shelf life, putting consumer health at risk. Therefore, facilities must be constructed to satisfy all applicable hygienic requirements, especially during running operations. The facilities must be designed for easy and reliable cleaning, especially in those areas where automatic clean-in-place (CIP) and sterilisation-inplace (SIP) processes are used and visual inspections cannot be carried out.

In this regard, seals are of special importance: first, in terms of the chemical degradation of the sealing materials, and second, in terms of their use as static or dynamic seals at all connecting points in the facility.

Material

The choice of sealing materials for use in direct contact with the products has to be made carefully. The materials are required to fulfil multiple requirements. The seal material must comply with all applicable legal regulations and should at a minimum conform to FDA (Food and Drug Administration) CFR §177.2600, EG 1935/2004, and EU 2002/72/EG, depending on where the machinery is to be used. This ensures that no substances that are known to have negative effects on the product quality or the health of the consumers are used in the production of the seal’s raw material. (more…)

Microstructure characterisation of processed fruits and vegetables by complementary imaging techniques

Issue 1 2011 / 3 March 2011 / Adrian Voda, Jaap Nijsse & Gerard van Dalen, Unilever Research & Development and Henk Van As, Wagningen University and John van Duynhoven, Unilever Research & Development & Wagningen University

The assessment of the microstructural impact of processing on fruits and vegetables is a prerequisite for understanding the relation between processing and textural quality. By combining complementary imaging techniques, one can obtain a multi scale and real-time structural view on the impact of processing on fruits and vegetables.

Fruits and vegetables are considered rich sources of several essential dietary micro – nutrients, fibres and phytochemicals, therefore the intake of fruits and vegetables has been associated with a wide range of beneficial health effects. A main hurdle for consumers to raise their daily intake is the lack of convenience in preparing foods. The food industry has addressed this by offering the consumer dried fruits and vegetables that are re-hydrated shortly before consumption. (more…)

Hygienic assembly and transfer of food products: A demonstration system for the automatic processing of vegetables

Issue 5 2010 / 4 November 2010 / Anders Pettersson, SlK and John O. Gray, IIT

Food production constitutes the largest European manufacturing sector, employing some four million people and generating an annual turnover of approximately EUR 850 billion of which EUR 50 billion products are exported. The sector is unusual in that a large percentage of its output still depends on manual operations; a situation that is probably due to the way the industry has evolved over previous decades and the fact that a vast number of companies in the sector are SMEs where the take up of automation has been relatively slow throughout the European arena. (more…)

V8(R) Juice is hotter than ever with the introduction of low sodium 100% vegetable juice

Industry news / 31 August 2010 / Campbell Soup Company

Campbell Soup Company is bringing on the heat to low-sodium foods with the introduction of V8Spicy Hot Low Sodium 100% vegetable juice. (more…)

HIGHTECH EUROPE: A network fostering innovation in food processing

Issue 3 2010, Past issues / 30 June 2010 / Dr. Kerstin Lienemann, Manager DIL Office Brussels, Deutsches Institut für Lebensmitteltechnik e.V. & dr. ir. Iesel Van der Plancken, Senior Researcher, Laboratory of Food Technology, Katholieke Universiteit & Annika Gering Project Manager, ttz Bremerhaven

Bio-, nano- and information and communication technology show high innovative power within high-tech food processing technologies. Excellent research has been carried out but has not always led to substantial innovations on the market. This European Innovation Paradox is at least partly due to a lack of knowledge transfer, especially between science and industry, and between regions or cross-border. It becomes evident that the process of research and development (R&D), implementation and application of high-tech food processing technologies requires tailor-made multidisciplinary solutions. (more…)

Five measures for sustainable, financially sound processing

Issue 4 2009 / 1 June 2010 / Dr Peter de Jong, Arjan van Asselt, Dr Martijn Fox & Dr Coen Akkerman, NIZO Food Research

In the food industry, it is possible to use new breakthrough technologies to create a more sustainable production process combined with a substantial decrease of production costs. However, the development of these technologies requires a significant investment of time and money. The latter, in particular, is difficult to secure these days. Fortunately, there are some relatively simple measures available to decrease production costs by five to 10 per cent within a single year. Five are presented in this article. In order to obtain a maximised effect it is important to apply all five to achieve optimal production efficiency.

NIZO food research has years of experience in the optimisation of processes both within and beyond the food industry. This pertains not so much to the optimisation of logistics and the use of equipment but rather to the production method used to produce the food. Experience showed that in almost any case, opportunities for substantial improvements that lead to quick wins with regard to costs and sustainability are available. For a production line, the savings can amount to hundreds of thousands of Euros per year. Figure 1 provides an overview of the possible ways in which quick wins can be achieved. These have been applied with success dozens of times during recent years. An explanation of each is provided below. (more…)

How to determine the spray drying parameters of dairy and food concentrates?

Issue 4 2009 / 12 December 2009 / Pierre Schuck & Romain Jeantet, INRA and Agrocampus Ouest and Eric Blanchard, Laiterie de Montaigu

The second and concluding instalment of Pierre Schuck and associates’ article on spray drying parameters of dairy products discusses the results and conclusions of their research. The most frequently used technique for dehydration of dairy and food products is spray drying. This is an effective method for preserving biological products as it does not involve severe heat treatment and it allows storage of powders at an ambient temperature.

Due to the variety and complexity of the concentrates to be dried, a more rigorous understanding of spray-drying based on physico-chemical and thermodynamic properties has now become necessary. However, the current knowledge does not allow determination of the parameters of spray-drying of dairy products. The only way to determine these parameters is to perform several complex and expensive experiments with spray-dryer pilots. (more…)

Challenges to processing non-traditional pastas

Issue 1 2009 / 20 February 2009 / Frank A. Manthey, Associate Professor, Durum Wheat Quality/Pasta Processing Laboratory, North Dakota State University and Gurleen K. Sandhu, Graduate Research Assistant, Durum Wheat Quality/Pasta Processing Laboratory, North Dakota State University

Traditional pasta is made from semolina and water. Its simplicity in composition has made it an inexpensive meal that is familiar to many people worldwide. The milling of durum wheat into semolina removes the bran and germ which are rich in dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals. To offset the loss of these healthful components, many countries require pasta to be fortified with thiamine, niacin, riboflavin, folic acid and ferrous sulphate.

Non-traditional ingredients are sometimes added to improve the nutritional quality and healthfulness of pasta. Enhanced protein quality (semolina proteins contain relatively low levels of lysine, methionine, and threonine) and dietary fibre are two common objectives that have driven the development of non-traditional pastas for the health food market. For a more complete review of this topic, the reader is referred to the article written by Marconi and Carcea1.

Dietary fads have impacted the view of traditional pasta. For example, the Adkins diet viewed carbohydrate rich food like pasta negatively. In response, some pasta manufacturers began to substitute high protein ingredients for semolina. While these pastas had recognisable pasta shapes, they lacked agreeable visual and organoleptic appeal. In time, multigrain pastas have been formulated that have a pleasing appearance and taste. Although low carbohydrate diets have diminished in popularity, they did have two important impacts on the pasta industry. Firstly, these diets changed consumer attitudes, making health food more mainstream and secondly, they created a niche market for non-traditional pastas. These non-traditional pastas are more nutritious and definitely add variety to the culinary experience. Today, traditional pasta and non-traditional pastas are available at most grocery stores. (more…)