< Previous20 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.netCONVEYINGBy 2030, a third of all British jobs willbe automated, according to predicationsfrom the British Automation & RobotAssociation (BARA). Since 2000 alone,there has been a 60 per cent upsurge inthe adoption of automated technology. Inthe UK, manufacturing is tipped forfuture growth well above any other sector,this despite the skills shortage thatthreatens to derail any potential. Complexrobotics are able to take the place of somemanual labour and physical possessesaltogether, with some pockets ofgovernment and industry now genuinelyconcerned about human workers losingjobs to robotic counterparts. But achievingan automated and efficient future dependson such technology. With the increased introduction ofrobotic units to the manufacturing floor,there is one common component thatlinks them all – the conveyor. Despite itscrucial and often overlooked competenciesand applications, the conveyor is leftsomewhat in the shadows whenmanufacturers contemplate automation.The limelight instead is dominated byrobots and output speeds. In manyrespects, the smooth transition betweenthese units gets frequently snubbed.However, increasing the numbers ofrobotics and automated systems are usedto pick, place and palletise delicate andraw food ingredients, making the choice ofconveyor systems a vital consideration tothe longevity of future production lines.To put it another way, conveying systemsare an integral part and paramount to theoperation of any food and drinkproduction line. When assessing conveyor options,flexibility, robustness and safety arecrucial criteria. System integrators haveaccess to a vast array of options -everything from gravity rollers to beltconveyors and heavy duty palletisers. Inaddition, conveyors can be customised forany automation format, includinghorizontal, bucket, vertical, swan neck andcarousels. Unlike some of the otheraspects of the production line, conveyingoffers a significant degree of customisationwhich allows manufacturers and producersto install bespoke solutions designed totheir specifications and needs. The conveyor is quite literally the linkin the production chain and there aremany more factors involved in theintegration apart from getting a productfrom one system to the next. Forexample, a customer may need delayedstops, accelerated sections or turningdevices. In every instance, the conveyorelement is about optimising theproduction flow.With food automation making up sucha large slice of many system integratorsbusiness, the specification for high grade,food safe conveyors is hardly surprising.Requirements in the food sector can beboth challenging and unique, particularlyfor meeting stringent hygiene standards. ConveyingautomationAutomation has had an increasing bearing on what were onceconsidered traditionally human operated roles. 22 Á20-23_Layout 1 21/12/2016 10:27 Page 1Food & Drink International 21www.fdiforum.netCONVEYINGBiscuit producers boosts capacitywith new bake production lineNorthumbrian Fine Foods, the Gateshead-based biscuit manufacturer,has added to its production capacity following the installation of a £1.2million bake oven and production line.The new line will help meet the demand for the Company’s expandingrange of biscuits, especially in the gluten-free sector. The production linehas increased baked production output by around 30% and created 40new jobs in the process.“The new bake line will enable us to further develop our range of ‘free-from’ biscuits and cookies to meet strong customer demand,” saidStewart McLelland, Northumbrian Fine Foods Managing Director. “Thisinvestment will reinforce our leading position in the gluten-free sectorand enable us to develop new markets, including export.”The new line will focus on the production of a wide range of differentbiscuits including ‘indulgent’ cookies, rotary moulded biscuits and bakebars such as Granola.As well as major supermarket own-label products, NFF alsomanufactures gluten-free biscuits under the Prewett’s brand. 20-23_Layout 1 21/12/2016 10:27 Page 222 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.netCONVEYING200 tonnes of yogurt per week Tims Dairy in Chalfont St Peter is a private family-run company who have been producingaward-winning yogurt for over 66 years. After significant investment, they now have capacityto produce 200 tonnes weekly. To cater for this expansion, UPM Conveyors were consulted to provide solutions to theend of line yogurt pot tray packing and stacking into stillage’s to ensure a smooth transitionof product ready for despatch.Together they designed a carousel with work stations that incorporated a central packedtray conveyor to allow operators to pack 150 pots per minute into trays which can then betransferred to a stillage via the central conveyor. The system was completed and personnel from Tims Dairy visited UPM for pre-deliveryinspection allowing the complete unit to be supplied on site ready for immediate operationinto production.Further automation is being considered by Tims Dairy in conjunction with UPM based onthe success of this project. For more information, visit www.upmconveyors.co.uk.While emphasis is often on the endeffector, which places the food itemwithin the bag or box, it is both thegripper and the conveyor that will makethe most contact with raw produce, givingrise to potential cross-contamination.Designs of conveyor systems have long-focused on minimising crevices and otherareas where the ingress of contaminationcan occur, while facilitating easy cleaningbetween production runs. Accordingly, there have been significantadvances in the materials used within thedesign and build of conveyor systems toensure they are flexible enough to copewith changing environments, in additionto meeting harsh wash down procedureswhich enable them to be IP69Kcompliant. As an automation and roboticsintegrator, Pacepacker favours the UPMConveyors’ High Molecular WeightPolyethene (HMWPE) design for many ofits food production clients. The sides of the conveyor are made ofHMWPE with stainless steel supportframes. This makes it fully compliant withFDA regulations and being IP69K rated,the conveyor can withstand high pressureand close proximity washdowns. Thesimplistic side channel ‘groove’ is likewisemade from HMWPE, and because thereare no pinch or trap points between theside frame and belt, it can be deployed inhygienic food processing areas, reducingthe risk of cross-contamination. Ideal fortransporting unpackaged primaryproducts, this HMWPE conveyor caters toevery type of product handlingrequirement, from raw fish, meat andpoultry to sliced vegetables, biscuits andconfectionery as well as fresh and frozenproduce.In traditional conveyors, the belt isstretched over two rollers and thisrequires regular tracking and tensioning.With the HMWPE design, the belt runs20-23_Layout 1 21/12/2016 10:27 Page 3Food & Drink International 23www.fdiforum.netCONVEYINGScrewconveyorsent packingHaving won thecontract to fillsachets with agranular garden careproduct, staff atPrimePac Solutions,one of the UK’spremier contractpackaging companieswho are based nearEbbw Vale in Wales,soon realised thattheir existingmechanical conveyingsystem was not up tothe task.The problem wasthat the screwconveyor basedmechanical systemwas grinding thegranular product to a fine powder which clogged-up the screwconveyor. This meant costly down-time while the maintenancecrews cleaned out the screw conveyor and a client who wantedsachets filled with granules not powder.Glyn Jones, the Engineering Director contacted Piab who,during the site visit, suggested that a PiFLOWi vacuum conveyorcould solve the problem. The PiFLOWi would be mounted abovethe filling machine with a transition piece that would allow thegranular product to flow directly into the filling machine. Controlof the PiFLOWi would be via a level sensor on the filling machineand a simple hand-held lance would then be used to pick up thegranules from 1 tonne FIBC’s.An on-site trial proved that the PiFLOWi could not onlyincrease productivity but do so without any product degradation.Glyn Jones said: “I am so pleased with the performance of theconveyor that I am ordering a second one and am alsoconsidering a different Piab vacuum conveyor for anotherapplication.”For more information, visit www.piab.com or call 01509 857010,alternatively you can email UK-info@piab.com. in the side channels - top and bottom. As a result, friction issignificantly cut, making for an overall more efficientconveyer system. Inevitably, production layouts change, especially if aconveyor has a 25 year life span. Built using joining rods,the modular conveyor designs also make it easier toreconfigure. As they are not welded together, the conveyorcan be broken down at any point. For example, a foodproduction line featuring a horizontal conveyor may want tointroduce a vertical element and the insertion of modulescan achieve this and increase the life of a conveyorindefinitely. The durability of many conveyors today alsoenables them to be installed within changeable and extremeenvironments. The belt on the HMWPE design is so robustit can be installed in environments where temperaturesreach or drop to +/- 200 °C. Food manufacturers want quality, reliable, high-specsystems that will last and can be modified to boost the ROI.In this arena, the technology moves fast. However, as withany automation installation, production flow efficiency willalways take centre stage, and the choice of conveyors is avital link in the whole turnkey chain. 20-23_Layout 1 21/12/2016 10:27 Page 424 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.netCARTONING & SLEEVINGCertainly innovations in production inrecent years has created hundreds of newideas that are being incorporated intopackaging – yet that’s not to say thatcompanies can simply over-indulge inincorporating every new trick in the bookas consumers and retailers alike are nowon their guard for packaging that appearsto be excessive. With security concernstaking on ever increased importance, it’s aconstant juggling act for packagingspecialists.Consumer demands and expectationshave led to an increased level ofinteraction, first with labels and caloriecounts, then with ever more specificinformation on RDA’s and information onIn onepackageThe cartoning and sleeving industry is growing strongerdue to shifts in consumer demand, but that doesn’t meanthe same challenges aren’t still around. 24-27_Layout 1 21/12/2016 10:30 Page 1Food & Drink International 25www.fdiforum.netCARTONING & SLEEVINGTetra Pak launches sustainableaseptic cartonTetra Pak has launched a new version of Tetra Brik® Aseptic 1000 Edge with Bio-basedLightCap™ 30. This is the first aseptic carton package in the world to receive the highest class of Vinçottecertification for its use of renewable materials, the company said.The new package is manufactured using a bio-based plastic film and cap, made from polymersderived from sugar cane. Combined with the paperboard, this lifts the share of materials fromrenewable sources in the package to above 80%, the threshold for four-star certification fromVinçotte, the Belgium-based accreditation agency that is world-recognised for assessing therenewable content of packaging products.It also boasts up to 17% lower carbon footprint than a standard package, according to anindependent lifecycle analysis conducted by IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute.Charles Brand, Executive Vice President, Product Management and Commercial Operations at Tetra Pak said: “Our ultimate goal is to produce all ofour packages using only sustainably-managed renewable materials. Launching the new Tetra Brik Aseptic 1000 Edge with Bio-based LightCap 30package is a significant milestone for us on that journey.”where the product was sourced from. Ontop of that, conscientious consumers aredemanding that packaging have as smallan environmental impact as possibleSome specialists think that the sectorcould well become unrecognisable in thenear future thanks to the huge changesthat are being introduced. But the needfor packaging itself will likely never fade. Most of the changes are being broughtin by shifts in consumer demand, and thecartoning and sleeving industry hasbenefitted greatly from recent consumerinterest in pre-cooked and ready-mealfoods. As the lifestyle of the averageconsumer becomes more mobile, and freetime becomes less available, food thatcan be heated quickly andconsumer grows in demand.While cartoning and sleevinghardly has the monopoly inthis industry, manyreadymeals are makinguse packaging thatcan be quickly andeasily removed –like sleeves.has been driven thanks to consumerdemand for sustainable products. In thecarton sector, many companies now aimfor their cartons to be labelled as meetingthe criteria of the Forest StewardshipCouncil Chain of Custody. FSC is aninternational organisation that promotesresponsible management of the world’sforests and its CoC certification allowswood fibres to be traced at every stepthrough the supply chain, providingassurance that any products bearing thelogo support forest management thatadopts environmentally appropriate,socially beneficial and economically viablemanagement practices.This has led to major overhauls of theThese have become fairly common onready meals and microwaveable meals,particularly Chinese, Indian and Japanesevariants. In many cases this mind ofpackaging will contain all the necessaryinformation, along with cooking details –before being slipped off to reveal a typicalfilm and plastic container ready forcooking.Legislature is also, for possibly the firsttime ever, working to help the cartoningindustry. As an ever-increasing amount ofinformation is required on products,cartons become an attractive method ofdisplaying them, without compromisingthe aesthetic design of the individualproduct. As with many sectors, much innovation26ÁÁ24-27_Layout 1 21/12/2016 10:30 Page 226 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.netCARTONING & SLEEVINGpackaging process in many companies –and some find this a challenge. Investmentcosts for regulation and legislation willalways be a difficult factor, especially withvarying standards across the EU. Theseare necessities that cannot be avoidedhowever, and as labelling is one of thefastest-changing sectors when it comes tochanges in legislation, it is something thatmany are forced to quickly adapt to.The environmental impact of theirpackaging is a problem manycompanies in this highly competitivemarket typically cannot afford to eliminatethem altogether, since sleeves are oftencrucial in lending on-shelf impact and apremium look to products.”This is important for theaforementioned booming ready mealsmarket, particularly with pre-cookedmeals. Mainly due to the misconceptionthat ready meals are somehow lesswholesome or lower quality than freshlycooked food, the perception of a premiumor somehow artisan product is necessary toalleviate this. Typically this is achievedthrough aesthetically pleasing packaging –but there is almost universally a picture ofthe finished product in its cooked state,which would not be possible to print withany real definition on the film itself.Sleeves allow an effective alternative, andwill as such continue to do so as the readymeals sector continues its growth.Digital technology has certainlyprovided more flexibility for packagingdesign, especially as legal requirementshave required much more information ison packaging that was previously the case.Many companies have introduced QRcodes on their products to allow customersto receive promotional material and muchelse, while it also has value when it comesto traceability.The packaging of many of the productson retailers’ shelves remain in the iconicand distinctive designs they have kept formany years – but while their look hasn’tchanged, the materials used often have tocreate more effective, efficient and securepackaging. To achieve higher shelf spacingis the challenge facing all producers. Thisis particularly so in convenience storeswhere space is even more limited.Cartoning and sleeving has providedmany answers for those in the industry,taking over certain sectors – but that’s notto say the packaging industry can slowdown and let things lay. New innovationwill always be on the forefront of people’sminds.manufacturers are experiencing at themoment. As Chris Baker, director atRotech, explains: “Both British foodmanufacturers and retailers are making aconcerted effort to minimise theenvironmental impact of packaging. Onepractical step to achieve this has been touse thinner sleeve materials and a varietyof narrower, ‘watchstrap’-style cardboardsleeves around chilled products in tubsand trays, such as dips and ready meals.Although sleeves may be getting smaller,24-27_Layout 1 21/12/2016 10:30 Page 3T. Freemantle Ltd is the UK Market Leading manufacturer of Cartoning and Sleeving equipment. The equipment is simple, robust and reliable and proven to be easy to operate, simple to maintain with a fast unskilled size change. From simple manually operated machinery through to fully automac high speed systems, we have a machine to suit almost every cartoning and sleeving applicaon. We have the full range of equipment on show at our UK demonstraon facility and invite you to try the machines out for yourself. The UK Market LeaderSpecialists in Sleeving Experts in Cartoning Call us on 01724 276908 Email the sales team at sales@tfreemantle.com 24-27_Layout 1 21/12/2016 10:30 Page 428 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.netMICROBIOLOGYIn some cases, recalling a food productis merely a precautionary measure in theevent of a labelling error, or over anundeclared allergen. To save consumersfrom a possible anaphylactic shock orstave off any litigious action, a companycan voluntarily recall its productand stem such issues in thebud. Microbialcontamination, however,can put lives en masse at risk (as well as amanufacturer’s reputation) and withconsumers more prepared than ever topursue legal action; it can prove volatile. The orchestration of a recall can provea scattershot affair, with contaminatedproducts already in consumer’s shoppingtrolleys, their homes or worse – ingested.Asking consumers to return suspectedproducts based on barcodes and sell-by/use-by dates doesn’t prove a full proofmeans of safeguarding consumers. Trackand trace technology is providing anintegrated network framework whereinmanufacturers can trace products in real-time as they journey through the supplychain. Contamination, however, can beendemic and ingrained in supermarketsand other outlets. In a recent investigation undertaken byresearchers at the Department forEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs(Defra), two in three chickens sold in UKsupermarkets were found to be infectedwith E. coli. In England alone, 78 per centof fresh chicken on sale tested positive forthe bacterium, while the figure inScotland is 53 per cent, with Wales up at41 per cent. While the particular strainpresent in the tested chickens doesn’tcause the diarrhoea or vomiting associatedEarlywarningRevelations of microbial pathogens running rampant in foodproducts have taken centre stage, but innovative newdevelopments are helping to safeguard consumers and ensuresafety in the supply chain. 28-31_Layout 1 21/12/2016 10:23 Page 1Food & Drink International 29www.fdiforum.netMICROBIOLOGYDefra release measures to protect poultry against Avian FluThe Government Chief Vet has declared a Prevention Zone introducing enhancedbiosecurity requirements for poultry and captive birds, helping protect them from a strainof avian flu circulating in mainland Europe.The zone covers England and will remain in place for 30 days as of December.Declarations have also been made by the Scottish Government and Welsh Government.Keepers of poultry and other captive birds are now required to keep their birdsindoors, or take appropriate steps to keep them separate from wild birds.Outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N8) have been confirmed inpoultry and wild birds in several countries across Europe. No cases of H5N8 have beenfound in the UK and this order is a precautionary measure to help prevent potentialinfection from wild birds.Public Health England (PHE) advises that the threat to human health remains verylow.Defra is continuing to monitor the situation closely and has increased its surveillanceactivity, while keepers are being urged to reinforce biosecurity measures on theirpremises.with E. coli, experts have warned that itcould live in the gut for years and, mostalarmingly, cause resistance to antibioticsin future infections. The bacterialpresence has been (at least in part)attributed to the rampant usage ofantibiotics in the poultry industry whichcauses the bacteria to mutate and becomeantibiotic-resistant – a clear and presentthreat to human health. Ready-to-eat prepared salads arepopular with consumers due to their time-saving and affordable nature. Over recentyears, however, there have been a numberof outbreaks associated with fresh saladproduce contaminated with E. coli andSalmonella both in the USA and Europe.This phenomenon has sparked interest instrategies for controls and interventionmeasures in the UK industry, the EU andkey research funding bodies. Despite thenumber of reports published on improvingthe microbiological safety of salad leafproduction, very few studies have directlyinvestigated the behaviour of Salmonellaonce the leaves have been bagged. An investigation led by microbiologistsat the University of Leicester, however,found that even minor damage to readyprepared salad leaves can significantlystimulate the presence of Salmonella.Scientists found that the fluids releasedfrom damaged leaves also have the effectof enhancing the virulence of thepathogen, potentially increasing its abilityto cause infection in the consumer. Forexample, fluid released from baggedspinach and mixed salad30 ÁReady-to-eat prepared salads arepopular with consumers due to theirtime-saving and affordable nature. Overrecent years, however, there have beena number of outbreaks associated withfresh salad produce contaminated withE. coli and Salmonella both in the USAand Europe28-31_Layout 1 21/12/2016 10:24 Page 2Next >