< Previous20 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.netPROCESSING SPOTLIGHTmeans there will be less idle downtimewith lost productivity for repairs orreplacement of equipment, asmaintenance can be scheduled in a cost-effective way and be complete beforemachine failure stops production,preventing waste in the case ofperishables, loss of revenue from missedshipments and customer satisfactionproblems. These sensors can also bedesigned to remain installed during dailysterilisation, saving time for sanitationstaff as there is no need forreinstallation.The repair process can be streamlinedthanks to the data trends sensorscollect, and a company can remainahead of its competitors who would beheld back by these instances. Thesetechnologies therefore allow one todiagnose issues within the processingline to create a more productive system.This tech is especially important fortracking machinery as we increaselevels of automation in the processingsector, where all equipment needs to berunning properly with little humansupervision. In collecting all this data, itis important to not forget the need for aplace to store it - servers can only holda certain amount of information.Investing in blockchain, which allowschunks of data records to be sent tocomputer systems specifically built for© Shutterstock/Syda Productionsits storage, is one remedy for this, andis considered useful for Industry 4.0and big data as it keeps a chain of pastdata, is transparent, and can be usedby all computers on a network.The ability to perceive whenequipment may fail and what is notefficient in processing is perhaps one ofthe greatest changes Industry 4.0technology brings the industry: itmakes the food and drink industrypredictive rather than reactive to thechallenges that it faces.As data and connectivity make itpossible for one to react to problems22 ÁStar Refrigeration’s CO2 packaging helps Uin Foods go greenStar Refrigeration has helped another leading food manufacturer reduceits carbon footprint and ‘go green’ by replacing an industrial refrigerationplant using synthetic refrigerants with a natural refrigerant – carbon dioxide. Uin Foods is renowned in the industry for creating private label pizzas forthe UK’s top retailers, producing 25,000,000 pizzas each year. StarRefrigeration offered a bespoke solution comprising an industrial CO2refrigeration packaged system and a spiral freezer. When combined, theStar’s Envifreeze and the Helix spiral freezer deliver a complete eco-friendly in line coolingsolution at a competitive price. The bespoke system is unique in the industry, as it utilises CO2 as a natural refrigerant eventhough the plant has relatively low capacity.Star’s brand-new Envi range of industrial refrigeration packaged systems address the need for a future-proof natural cooling solution, whichwon’t need to be replaced due to regulations, restrictions or sharp price hikes on certain refrigerants. For more information, visit www.star-ref.co.uk.18-22.qxp_Layout 1 30/07/2018 10:21 Page 3ORGANISED BY25-27 SEPT 2018NEC, BIRMINGHAMORGANISED BYPROCESSING & PACKAGING MACHINERYMATERIALS I ROBOTS I INDUSTRIAL VISIONppmashow.co.ukTHE UK’S LEADING PRODUCTION LINE EVENTSee the latest processing and packaging machinery in actionFREETO ATTENDREGISTER NOW!NEW FOR 2018)NHMƏ@MƏHMɓTDMSH@KƏKHMDTOƏNEƏJDXƏMNSDƏROD@JDQRƏ@SƏNTQƏLTRSƏ@SSDMCƏRDLHM@QR-DSVNQJƏVHSGƏHMCTRSQXƏODDQR18-22.qxp_Layout 1 30/07/2018 10:21 Page 422 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.netPROCESSING SPOTLIGHTquicker, and earlier, Industry 4.0 is particularly usefulfor the age-old nightmare of recalls. Products can besourced and traced with, for instance, Radio-frequencyidentification (RFID) technology, which useselectromagnetic fields to automatically track tagscontaining information on products. With this digitaltechnology, products can be recalled earlier andsometimes before they are shipped, which saves acompany’s reputation in the public eye.Of course, as with adopting any new technology orequipment, the digital technology and required dataanalysis that comes with implementing Industry 4.0, toultimately create a smart factory, presents challengesin finding and retaining staff who are able tounderstand and run data business operations. This isespecially difficult as the industry faces a skills deficitand a lack of suitable workers with the qualificationsfor Industry 4.0 in the processing sector. In order toutilise Industry 4.0 and its associated technology,there must be a skills transition, especially for keydecision makers. One must invest in new staff andcurrent staff to upskill them, so they can analyse andinterpret data.With the constantly changing nature of digitaltechnology, and the benefits it can provide, food anddrink companies must invest in Industry 4.0 to remainup to date with trends and ahead of competitors.Interfood injects anothersolutionInterfood Technology will beadding injecting technology to therange of equipment it offers fromHenneken.Interfood has workedwith the successfulGerman-based familybusiness for a number ofyears, supplying its brinemixers, lacerators, loadingsystems and extensiverange of vacuum tumblers tomany leading food processorsthroughout the UK and Ireland.Now, with Interfood no longerrepresenting Schroeder, it allows Interfood to extend that line toHenneken injectors. James Radcliffe, Divisional Manager for Interfood, said: “Previously wehad not been in a position to include Henneken injectors in ourequipment offering but we are delighted now to do so.”He added: “We are now able to offer the build quality for whichHenneken is known in a cost-effective range of injectors.”Available in three working widths (350mm, 450mm and 650mm), theHPI injector range can process all species for both bone-in and bonelessoperations. For more information, visit www.interfoodtechnology.com.18-22.qxp_Layout 1 30/07/2018 10:21 Page 5Food & Drink International 23www.fdiforum.netVISION, INSPECTION AND DETECTIONFood manufacturers are beset fromall sides by challenges. If it’s not theincreasing demand from consumers tocontend with, then it’s retail pricingpressures as supermarkets wage warwith one another to offer the lowestprice. All of this has coalesced to form aperfect storm, leading to cost-cuttingmeasures across food and drinkproduction lines. A recent survey undertaken byinsurance broker Lockton found thatthis cost-cutting is having a directimpact on product quality which, inturn, has sparked an upsurge in recalls.Indeed, participants suggest that retailpricing pressures, in particular, comprisesafety standards. As one of the fastest growing foodsector segments, the ready mealsmarket – forecast to reach $146,247million by 2023 – is in danger fromthese cost-cutting measures, especiallywhen it comes to the presence of metalcontaminates. Phil Brown, Managing Director ofFortress Technology Europe, arguesthat having one metal detector on aready meal processing line is, obviously,better than none. However, while thisunit may demonstrate best practice andadhere to numerous quality assurancesand regulatory guidelines, a lack ofunderstanding about prevalent metalrisks might be, and where they could beintroduced, means that a factory couldbe missing a trick. Ninety-eight per cent of UKmanufacturers surveyed by theaforementioned Lockton Food andBeverage Report agreed that continuedprice pressures would have an effect onretail shelves. Forty-two per cent ofthose believed that cost-cutting was toblame for the increase in the number ofrecalls the sector is currentlyexperiencing. Mr Brown has thrown hishat in the ring, agreeing that short-termMetal in the mix© Shutterstock/Microgen24 ÁConsumer demand and retail pricingpressures have led to cost-cuttingmeasures across food productionlines, comprising quality and safety.For the ready meal industry, thispresents a major issue when itcomes to metal contaminates. 23-25.qxp_Layout 1 30/07/2018 10:23 Page 1thrift with product inspection equipment may have anincendiary effect on food safety, putting a businessand brand reputation in jeopardy. In a market placethat grows increasingly more competitive, this canwell spell the end for a producer. Food recalls spearheaded by the Food StandardsAgency have doubled over the last five years. Inparticular, there has been a sharp rise in those withphysical contaminates – such as metal. The surveyfound that twenty-two per cent of these food anddrink recalls over the past six years were linked tochoking hazards. Experts predict that investments by food factoriesin inspection systems will continue to fall. Mr Brownadvises that risk professionals should constantlyrevisit inspection protocols and hypotheticalcontamination scenarios in order to flush out threats.This offers, in part, an antidote to the current climatewhere one in ten food and beverage manufacturersare using cheaper raw ingredients. Further, forty percent agree that ingredient transparency andtraceability are becoming harder to determine. It’sonly been five years since the infamous horse meatscandal shook the chilled, frozen and ready mealsector, though many of the same issues still plaguethe industry today. With all this in mind, in can be daunting for foodmanufacturers looking to maintain robust safety andquality practices across their production line.However, in lieu of direct investment in inspectionservices, there are other ways of strengtheningstandards. Mr Brown suggests sourcing from sub-contractors and changing suppliers, both of whichprovide manufacturers the ideal opportunity toreconsider and review food safety inspections. The issue is especially prevalent for makers ofconvenience meals; given these products typicallyhave more production processes than any other fooditem. This means that there more opportunities formetal to be introduced. For an example, Mr Brown24 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.netVISION, INSPECTION AND DETECTIONAIS X-Ray detects minuscule contaminantsAdvanced Inspection Services (AIS) has launched the AIS X-Ray MicronScan, an ultra-high-resolution sensor x-ray system for preventing productrecalls. Designed to operate offline, the system detects a large range of foreignbodies – such as metal, glass, stone, calcified bone fragments and specificrubbers and plastics, e.g. PTFE. High resolution sensors find very small contaminants – including metalcontaminants as low as 0.2mm and glass at 1.0mm – and are less sensitiveto the orientation and location of the foreign body within products.Advanced contaminant detection prior to product release and post recallwill ensure quality assurance and safeguard brand reputations. If an on-site solution is required, the new slightly lower resolution AIS X-Ray Ultra Scan can be installed within a manufacturing facility at a near-line location. Once the point of food safety weakness has been identified,it is then rectified thereby reducing the likelihood of product recalls andcustomer complaints.For more information, visit www.aisxray.co.uk.Fortress Technology EuropeFortress Technology Europe23-25.qxp_Layout 1 30/07/2018 10:23 Page 2Vision System ThermoSecureFull packaging inspection by vision for easy end-of-line integrationThermoSecure inspects seal seams, labels and information on top and bottom of packs. Before case packing, the stand-alone inspection machine detects defective packs and is able to reject them. In the event of a drift in production, an alarm alerts the operators so that the problem can be corrected immediately. ThermoSecure prevents rework operations on defective packaging, complaints or product recalls due to package integrity problems.01908 682740 info@bizerba.co.uk www.bizerba.comFood & Drink International 25www.fdiforum.netturns to the humble meat pie. As well as therequisite pastry topping and casings, a piemay contain multiple vegetables alongsidecooked meat and a sauce or gravy. Eachingredient and production process is, in its ownright, another arena in which metal and othercontaminates can be introduced. Each step is critical and Mr Brown says that,when assessing risks, it’s important to examineall of the processing steps, as metal could beintroduced in any number of the processeswhere cutting blades or grinders are beingused. After all, it only takes a small sliver ofmetal to be found by a consumer to spark a costlyproduct recall and/or lengthy legal action. “With an average ready meal, there can be more thaneight production steps between sourcing ingredients topacking, and more than five different product componentseach requiring, cleaning, peeling and inspection, slicing,cooking, quality inspection, flavouring and finally weighingand packing. If manufacturers are choosing cheaper rawingredients, the risk to reputation could be amplified,” saysMr Brown.“Although most external companies supplyingingredients are extremely diligent, the more extensive asupply chain and the further inspection equipment ispushed up the line-up, the greater the risks.”In terms of the end result, metal should be thought ofno differently as any other contaminate. They can all leadto legal action, result in recalls and harm consumers. Forthat reason, it’s no surprise that Mr Brown likens metalcontaminates to a virus. Taking the analogy a step further,he advised that catching it in its largest form – forexample, in a single potato – is the ideal. “Doing this means you eliminate it at the cheapest partof the process. But also you catch it before the metal ischopped up and dispersed into multiple products,” he says. In order to catch metal contaminates as early aspossible during production, manufacturers often installmetal detection equipment at every stage of theproduction line. And it’s easy to see why. Pushinginspection solely to the end of the line means that anycontaminate will be caught at the most expensive part ofthe production process. Here, an entire batch or product –for example, 500 ready meals – could potentially becontaminated by metal fragments. As Mr Brown says, atthis point, the cost to a business and brand reputation isconsiderably higher. As we’ve already explored, meeting consumer demandand pricing pressures from the retail sector are both partlyto blame for comprised product quality and safety. But, asMr Brown cautions, complacency can also be a majorissue. Zero recalls in the past doesn’t mean you’re immuneto future threats. “Quality assurance often runs deeper than the obvious,”he says. “Rather than considering the ‘if’ it can be prudentto think instead about the ‘when’. To mitigate futurecontaminant risks means you are not looking for patterns© Shutterstock/Baloncicibut future potential holes in the security chain. From apractical perspective, food processing inspection risksshould be reviewed every 12 months as part of a definedHACCP assessment. However you may want to do itmore frequently if a process is changing, for example ifswitching packaging from a plastic poly wrap to acardboard outer.”The pressures faced by food and beverage makers areonly predicted to intensify rather than ease up. So it’simportant for manufacturers to get to grips with theirinspection equipment and strategy in order to preserveconsumer trust, health and sidestep any product recalls.23-25.qxp_Layout 1 30/07/2018 10:23 Page 326 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.netAlthough food safety is possibly themost principal role of microbiology, it isnot the only one – a factor which someforget. With the consumer marketshifting ever more towards healthyfoods, and especially those withprobiotic or beneficial microbes andbacteria. It was innovation in this sectorwhich helped lead the push towardsfunctional foods, and the race toidentify and corner yet more markets is© Shutterstock/Viacheslave LopatinStudied applicationMicrobiology is of ever-increasing importance in the food and drink industry, notonly for hygienic and safety concerns, but also for innovating new products andapproaching markets for functional or healthy foods.a continuous one. Microbiology, and theresearch labs associated to it, are at theforefront of that, while also testing forfood safety, contamination and othermicrobial hazards. One such food hazard that has cometo the fore recently is that ofcontamination due to a shortage offood-grade carbon dioxide, which manyfood safety regulators fear will lead toincreased contamination from non-food-grade carbon dioxide. The carbondioxide shortage has continued acrossthe EU for some time, with manybusinesses in the drinks and meatindustries suffering as a result. It’s anticipated that the use of non-food-grade carbon dioxide will have arelatively low risk to human safety, butthe fact that some companies havebeen forced to rely on it could meanfresh meat that comes to major26-29.qxp_Layout 1 30/07/2018 10:25 Page 1MICROBIOLOGYFood & Drink International 27www.fdiforum.netmanufacturers has a risk of contamination. As aresult, the microbiology industry will need tobe particularly focused in the coming months,and the importance of having a goodmicrobiology team or lab working for amanufacturer is greater than ever. Food poisoning can be much harder toidentify and catch wind of, with recalls usuallyinitiated after consumers have already fallen ill.But food manufacturers aren’t defencelessagainst microbial threats such as E. coli,salmonella and campylobacter. A thoroughwashdown routine is a must, but it isn’t a silverbullet. Instead, companies can turn tolaboratory testing facilities that can assess foodand beverage products and production lines forany sign of infection. Although this isn’tmandatory, manufacturers can rest assuredthat their products are free from contaminatesand that their production environment ishygienic. Or, should any microbial threats be© Shutterstock/TrinsetAstell autoclave liftinghoist offers loadingsafety and versatilityAstell Scientific has added a new lifting hoist to the optionsavailable on its top-loading circular section autoclave range.The electrically-powered hoist will raise and lower loads of upto 40kg and provides a safe way to manage tall, heavy or bulkyitems, reducing the potential for personal injury or accidentaldamage.The hoist comprises of a 3-position boomarm which can be lowered and folded forstorage, a durable electronic winch motorcontrolled by a tethered remote control box,and a quick release load fastening clip that willsecurely attach to the handle of a wire basketor suitable container. Astell’s top loading autoclaves are availablein 95, 120 and 135 litre capacities and can bespecified with a combination of optionsmaking them ideal for sterilizing the variety ofload types found in food and beverageindustries. For more information, visitwww.astell.com/liftinghoist28 Á26-29.qxp_Layout 1 30/07/2018 10:25 Page 228 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.netMICROBIOLOGYdetected, they can take steps to ensure consumersstay safe and spare themselves any reputationaldamage or litigious action. Laboratory testing can also be utilised in theauthentication of food products, ensuring thatwhat’s on the ingredients list corresponds with whatconsumers are putting into their mouths. Thissafeguard can also be used in the ongoing battleagainst counterfeit food products, which still floodthe marketplace. Testing works by taking controlled amounts offood products either from a single batch or from aselection. Samples are then rendered down into auniform slurry, ensuring that results are consistentand precise. The slurries are analysed andprocessed, ready to return to the results to therespective food company. Testing products is one step of the equation, asknowing contamination exists doesn’t solve the issueof eradicating it. Although hygiene is critical in thisregard, preventative and defensive measures arecoming along in leaps and bounds. One of the more exciting developments recently© Shutterstock/Alexander RathsBOOK NOW www.lab-innovations.com 31 October & 1 November 2018 | NEC, BirminghamDiscovering innovation at the heart of the laboratory industryNEW for 2018• Conference powered by Lab News• Lab News Pavilion• SLS Pavilion• Sustainable Laboratory feature area• Dedicated VIP lounge• Bespoke sponsorship opportunitiesContact:Mauricio Montes | mauricio.montes@easyfairs.com | +44 (0)20 3196 435526-29.qxp_Layout 1 30/07/2018 10:25 Page 3Food & Drink International 29www.fdiforum.netMICROBIOLOGYt.01536 403815www.sglab.co.ukCONVENIENCE YOU CAN TRUST4356QUALITY PRODUCTS FOR MICROBIOLOGYAGARS • BROTHS • REAGENTS • STAINS • BESPOKE MEDIAhas come from the University of Helsinki, whereresearchers claim that, as well as their use in thehealthcare sector, bacteria-killing viruses could also beemployed in the food industry. Here they could be used asa sword and shield against food poisoning. The potentially game-changing findings focused on theutilisation of viruses that infect and kill bacteria – knownas bacteriophages or phages – in preventing infectiousdiseases has gained new traction after bacterial resistanceto antibiotics has become a global problem. Eachindividual bacteriophage only infects a handful ofbacterial species or strains, which makes them veritableweapons of precision in the prevention of bacterialdiseases.Professor Mikael Skurnik, working in cooperation withresearchers at the Seoul National University in SouthKorea, has been investigating the possibility of utilisingphages also in eradicating foodborne pathogens andpreventing food poisoning.“Phage treatment was effective in inhibiting bacterialgrowth in food, while the number of phages in the foodgrew, indicating that phages infect bacteria and grow inthem also when refrigerated,” says Skurnik.It falls on researchers to identify and battle againstmicrobial issues in the supply chain, enlightening the foodindustry and consumers alike. Developments elsewhereare providing greater power and safety levels amongconsumers and ensuring food producers are tooled up tomanufacture food that is free from microbialcontaminates. Reduce water consumptionwith Astell’s Autofill benchtopautoclavesAstell Scientific providesa solution to waterconsumption in its rangeof small capacity frontloading sterilizers.Astell’s Benchtop range isavailable in three chambercapacities: 33 litres, 43 litresand 63 litres, and as Classicand ‘Autofill’ versions. Plugthe unit in to a single-phasepower supply and fill theintegral water reservoir. Once filled, this provides water for up to 15 cycles by recycling the waterthat is automatically returned from the chamber at the end of every cycle. The pressure vessel design ensures the minimum of water is needed foreach load, which not only means very low power consumption, but also veryquick heating and cooling, reducing cycle times by up to 50% over similarmodels. This, along with the Autofill water recirculation system, ensures AstellBenchtop autoclaves are amongst the lowest power and water consumingsterilizers on the market.For more information, visit www.astell.com.26-29.qxp_Layout 1 30/07/2018 10:25 Page 4Next >