Minimizing capital cost is a common strategy for purchasing packaging line equipment. But, operating costs can offset that strategy. This article details the full picture of purchasing packaging line equipment.
Tulip, one of Denmark’s leading producers of processed food for the domestic and export market, produces around 90 tons of sausages each day. A large proportion of these – about 60 tons a day – is packaged under a modified atmosphere of carbon dioxide and nitrogen to keep the product fresh and improve its shelf life. This case study shows how the company improved its efficiency by installing a Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) system.
Bye-bye manual testing: Replaced by new on-line gas analyzer. This case study examines how a meat processing company made the switch from manually and randomly testing of its packages five times each day to an on-line headspace analyzer for its Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) products.
In 2004, Mariscos Linamar, a Spanish seafood company, began to investigate the innovative idea of packaging a proportion of its product in a modified atmosphere, with the aim to extend the product shelf life and improve its appearance. Years of research followed. After extensive research and trials, the optimal gas mixture, comprising oxygen and carbon dioxide blended in a ratio that depends on the product and the format of the package, had been decided upon as well as the best packaging approach. This case study illustrates the process the company used to implement Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) with thermosealed trays.
Hellenic Quality Foods (HQF) is a leading food company in Greece, packaged its products on trays with stretch film until early 2014. This case study shows how the company made the move to Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) to improve its products shelf and extend its customer reach.
Omnibar, a small Montana-based company that produces a unique, high-nutrition food bar, was seeking new markets for the high-grade, grass-fed cattle reared on the family ranch in Montana’s Blackfoot River Valley. This case study examines how the company overcame the packaging challenges associated with its unique product.
Updated FDA guidelines present new risks and challenges for food manufacturers. Fortunately, X-ray inspection offers manufacturers an effective and scalable way to proactively mitigate risk. Find out how.
In today’s challenging business environment, midsize manufacturers are faced with increasing pressures from both domestic and overseas competition—pressures to reduce costs, improve and maintain quality and decrease lead times. Designers and builders of capital equipment face special challenges due to the complexity of the products they build and the unique requirements of this engineer-to-order (ETO) environment. If you are an ETO or project-based manufacturer, here are ten questions traditional manufacturing software vendors don’t want you to ask.
Romaine lettuce is a staple in many home and restaurant kitchens, but shoppers found the crispy green vegetable difficult to locate in late 2018. As an outbreak of E. coli-tainted romaine began to make headlines, it was pulled from store shelves and restaurant delivery trucks all over the country. By the time the source of contamination was traced back to a California farm, and sales could be restarted, more than 60 people had been infected and dozens had been hospitalized.
Food companies are no stranger to regulatory oversight. However, newer requirements such as the food safety modernization act, or FSMA, present a special challenge. Based on seven foundational rules aimed at transforming the nation’s food safety system from one that was traditionally reactive, FSMA requires that producers have significantly more control of their operations.
If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. That advice extends to investments in capital equipment, including x-ray systems that protect products and brands from costly recalls, food safety problems and quality issues.
Probability of detection (POD) seems like a relatively simple number which vendors use to reassure potential customers of a machine’s capabilities for contaminant detection. However, there is more to the numeric value of POD than just taking it for face value. This white paper explains how POD is calculated and why 100% POD is unachievable and it also looks at factors that affect sensitivity of contamination detection while lastly discussing how the latest innovations in x-ray inspection technology are designed to enhance detection performance, while explaining how food processors can ensure POD is consistent throughout the lifetime of their x-ray system.
Chelsea Milling Co., maker of Jiffy Mix baking mixes, is moving ahead with plans to spend $35 million as part of an expansion that includes the addition of a new mixing tower, according to an article in The Ann Arbor News.