< Previous10 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net ROCOL Q&A What are food grade lubricants? At their most basic level, food grade lubricants are maintenance products, such as greases, sprays, films and cleaners, that have been independently certified as being safe for incidental contact with food in a production environment. The National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) is the body responsible for lubricant certification across the world, and there are three main classifications within the NSF certification process that allow for different lubricant uses. H1 lubricants can be used in food processing environments where there is the possibility of incidental food contact (10 parts per million). H2 lubricants are not certified food safe but can be used on equipment and machine parts in locations where there is no chance of the lubricant meeting any food product. 3H lubricants are typically edible oils, and are used to prevent rust on hooks, trolleys and similar equipment or as release agents. When a lubricant is dual registered as both 3H and H1, it can be used in environments where there is a risk of direct food contact. The decision of whether - and where - to use food grade lubricants is usually made on the likelihood of product contamination occurring through lubricant use in a food or drink manufacturing or processing environment. If you are using non-food grade lubricants anywhere in a food processing facility, it’s worth knowing that you must be able to prove there is no risk of a non-food grade lubricant being used in a potential contamination area. That’s why many food and drink manufacturers choose to play it safe and use only food grade products throughout their production facilities. Why are they important? The key priorities for most food and beverage manufacturers are ensuring product safety and the ability to offer full product traceability to their customers, alongside minimising equipment downtime and maximising production efficiency. Safety and traceability have been high on the agenda since the 2013 horse meat scandal. They will no doubt come under increased scrutiny with the advent of Natasha’s Law in 2021 and the need for clearer ingredient declarations in the pre-packaged food sector, and it will be interesting to see the response to the recent calls for a similar approach to be taken with restaurant menus following the death of Owen Carey from an allergic reaction to a buttermilk marinade. And we all know how serious the repercussions of contamination incidents and product recalls can be for manufacturers. As well as financial losses, the less readily quantifiable but equally damaging issues of reputational damage and loss of brand equity can do a business incredible harm. Add potential production losses through equipment downtime into the mix and investing in food grade products becomes something of a no brainer. If you’re not using products that are certified as food safe, this would be closely scrutinised in the event of a contamination safety incident or product recall at your site. In short, the ability to assure customers, auditors or – worst case scenario – the media that your products have not come into contact with potential contaminants remains a priority for most food and beverage processors. Ensuring that only food grade lubricants are used across your production facility eliminates the risk. How can food and beverage manufacturers select the best products to use on their sites? My first piece of advice would be to look out for the tick mark. A food grade lubricant that has been checked, Q&A Andy Howard, Food & Hygiene Segment Specialist, ROCOL Food and Drink International spoke with Andy Howard, Food & Hygiene Segment Specialist and ROCOL, about the importance of food grade lubricants. 10-11.qxp_Layout 1 23/09/2019 10:30 Page 1Food & Drink International 11 www.fdiforum.net ROCOL Q&A approved and certified by the NSF must display the NSF logo, the certification number and relevant category H1, H2, 3H code or codes. Products displaying this information are registered safe for use in food production environments. My second would be to select products from responsible manufacturers. Auditors are increasingly requesting evidence of food grade lubricants, and manufacturers who take food safety seriously will be ISO 21469 approved. ISO 21469 specifies hygiene requirements for the formulation, manufacture, use and handling of lubricants, giving you additional assurance of their suitability for food industry use. And thirdly, to ensure consistency, take advantage of the site audit, product selection, maintenance scheduling and training service offered by some lubricant manufacturers, such as ROCOL. This full-service approach evaluates lubrication requirements and use across the whole of your production site – or sites – and helps you rationalise lubricant spend and use, as well as ensuring product consistency and safety, site-wide. What trends are you seeing in the use of food grade lubricants across the food and beverage industries? Over the last half decade, we have seen more and more food, beverage and packaging manufacturers turning to food grade products to give them, and their customers, peace of mind. Whilst this was driven initially by the horse meat scandal, more and more manufacturers adopted best practice and seek food safety assurances they can pass on to their customers. One relatively new sector where we are seeing growing demand for food grade maintenance products is the brewing industry. The global market leaders have been first of the mark to introduce food grade products to support the creation of food safe production environments in the UK and overseas, and we have been working with the world’s largest brewer for some time now. However, we are also starting to see other breweries of all sizes requesting food grade maintenance products, seeing the importance of a best practice approach and the benefits of being able to promote food safe production environments. For more information about ROCOL food grade lubricants, visit www.rocol.com/markets/food-grade-lubricants, email customer.service@rocol.com, or call +44(0) 113 232 2600. 10-11.qxp_Layout 1 23/09/2019 10:30 Page 212 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net IMPORT AND EXPORT Ensuring compliance 12-15.qxp_Layout 1 23/09/2019 11:38 Page 1Food & Drink International 13 www.fdiforum.net IMPORT AND EXPORT © 1000 Words / Shutterstock.com There’s a myriad of important issues to consider when launching any food or drink product in a new market. Firstly, a product has to resonate with consumers whose tastes are likely different from that product’s native home. The importance of aesthetics in appealing to shoppers can’t be overstated, but yet of increased importance is complying with that market’s labelling laws and legislation. This can be a regulatory minefield to negotiate as what might be perfectly permissible in one country might not necessarily be the case in another. For a topical example, look at allergen labelling. There are loopholes in the law that mean full allergens don’t always have to be printed on a label, therefore companies must ensure they’re fully compliant with these laws market to market ahead of any new product launch or export drive. With a number of high-profile fatalities with food allergies in recent years, there has been increased emphasis on allergen labelling. But the onus has also been on country of origin labelling (or COOL for short). Following the horse meat scandal back in 2013 – and an assortment of major food scares and scandals since – there has been a heightened awareness on food origin, especially among consumers. Greater clarity and traceability on food and drink products is the silver lining of such scandals. When it comes to COOL, it not only provides a tighter, more secure supply chain, but also helps to sell a country as a brand in other markets. Certain countries are world-renowned for their products – such as meats and cheeses – and thusly become desirable commodities. Clearly defined and traceable country of origin labelling is therefore advantageous for food producers and manufacturers selling their products overseas. This isn’t without precedence as there have been a number of stories reporting products purporting to contain ingredients sourced from such- and-such country, were actually found to false. With an industry-wide realigning and deploying of COOL, these stories can, hopefully, become a thing of the past. 14 Á Food producers must ensure they are compliant with food labelling laws when launching new products overseas. 12-15.qxp_Layout 1 23/09/2019 11:39 Page 214 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net IMPORT AND EXPORT Country of origin labelling is proving particularly attractive among consumers and certainly to food manufacturers themselves, but it is becoming a priority for parliament. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have once again called for COOL to be made mandatory for meat and milk with a vote calling for better information to be provided to EU consumers. This follows COOL for processed foods winning the backing of the EU Parliament a few years back. This latest move, as with before, was motivated by ushering in and improving transparency across the food chain following the aforementioned horse meat scandal and myriad other cases of food fraud. The MEPs put forward the claim that mandatory labelling would help to improve customer confidence in food products by enabling the food supply chain to become more transparent. For an industry that is so heavily reliant on the import and export of goods, traceability and transparency can be tantamount to success. Exporting food products into foreign markets or, conversely, new products into a producer’s existing markets, is complex process in which a variety of factors are in play. As in almost all other aspects of the food and beverage sector, traceability and transparency are becoming fundamental to trade and attractive to consumers. Both can © Shutterstock/ Travel mania 12-15.qxp_Layout 1 23/09/2019 11:39 Page 3Food & Drink International 15 www.fdiforum.net likewise prove make or break when it comes to exporting food and drink products overseas, so understanding the complicated market factors is absolutely crucial. New legislation and concerns surrounding labelling likewise throws up challenges and opportunities in equal abundance. Understanding these issues is key for exporters looking to break into new markets or create stronger relations with existing ones. IMPORT AND EXPORT US signs draft agreement on fresh tomatoes from Mexico The US Department of Commerce has signed a new draft suspension agreement with Mexican tomato growers to suspend the antidumping investigation on fresh tomatoes from the South American country. This will ensure that the domestic tomato industry will be protected from unfair trade, the Department said. “For many years, there have been disputes over the roughly $2 billion worth of tomatoes that are imported from Mexico annually,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “These disputes led the Department to terminate an earlier suspension agreement and continue an investigation that could have led to duties of 25% for most Mexican tomato producers. “After intensive discussions with all parties, we initialled a new draft suspension agreement with the Mexican growers… This draft agreement meets the needs of both sides and avoids the need for antidumping duties.” Seaweed supplier secures European export deal Seaweed & Co has selected ingredients distributor Univar Solutions to export its Scottish-harvested seaweed across Europe. This new distributor agreement will see the company’s PureSea ingredients shipped to food and nutrition manufacturers and brands across Europe. Seaweed & Co. has supplied seaweed for ‘Off the Eaten Path’ – a range of vegetable snacks made by PepsiCo. Its ingredients have also been used in the M&S Smoked Hebridean Seaweed Mayonnaise. The company currently exports to countries including Israel, South Korea, Australia, Canada and the US, but will now expand further into Europe with support from Univar Solutions and cater to emerging consumer interest in plant- based diets. The business also plans to expand into Asia where food products from Scotland are recognised and valued for their premium quality. “Seaweed is undoubtedly the future,” said Dr Craig Rose, Co-founder and Managing Director of Seaweed & Co. “It ticks so many boxes for food, health and nutrition, and is absolutely on-trend.” © Shutterstock/ Phawat © Shutterstock/ eugenegurkov 12-15.qxp_Layout 1 23/09/2019 11:39 Page 416 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net ENVIRONMENTAL SPOTLIGHT Environmentally friendly? Environmentally friendly? 16-19.qxp_Layout 1 23/09/2019 10:51 Page 1Food & Drink International 17 www.fdiforum.net ENVIRONMENTAL SPOTLIGHT O ne of the biggest issues under the environmental umbrella is the epidemic of food waste. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, around a third – that’s 1.3 billion tonnes – of all the food produced in the world for human consumption each year gets lost or wasted. As far as industrialised countries go, this loss and wastage amounts to approximately $680 billion. For some, this is the key hurdle to overcome in offsetting the industry’s carbon footprint. Indeed, Edmond Phelan, President of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSCA) says that reducing food waste should be the primary focus when it comes to mitigating the effects of climate change due to food production. “One third of food produced is wasted; it stands to reason that the focus must be on what you waste, not on what you eat. Blaming sustainably produced beef and lamb for the potential demise of the planet is wrong,” he said. Setting the effect that current farming models for beef and lamb may or may not have on the environment aside, Phelan is right that more attention needs to be placed on what is being wasted. But as certain as there’s no single cause of food waste, there’s no single solution either. However, one of the best ways to significantly reduce food waste is through packaging. In this way, industry can deliver a one-two punch, simultaneously tackling two of the food and drink sector’s biggest environment issues – food waste and the scourge of plastic packaging. One of the latest initiatives in this very arena saw supermarket chain Asda partner with California company Apeel Sciences to trial an innovative coating for fresh produce. The plant- derived water-based coating provides an additional layer on produce that slows the rate of spoilage, helping to slash food waste and reduce the use of plastic packaging. It was recently tested for the first time in the UK at two Asda stores after gaining approval from the European Commission back in June. Consumers aren’t shy about posting pictures of what they see as an extraneous use of plastic packing on fresh produce online. But often this so-called “problematic plastic” serves a purpose, helping to protect produce and lengthen shelf life (but more on that later). Yet solutions such as this protective peel offer a win-win solution for retailers and consumers, by prolonging shelf life, protecting produce, and curbing the need for plastic packaging with a natural and biodegradable alternative. In the battle against food waste, one of the most important victories needed is extending shelf life, especially when it comes to perishable foods such as fresh fruit and bread, identified as two of the most commonly wasted products here in the UK. Alternatives can include turning food that would otherwise be wasted into new products, as supermarket Tesco has done by turning surplus bread into new products. Admirable, certainly, and to the benefit of the bottom line, but packaging, plastic or otherwise, can’t be ruled out entirely from the equation. In fact, it has an important role to play in the fight against food waste. This was the primary conclusion of a report undertaken by the Australian Fresh Produce Alliance on behalf of RMIT University in Melbourne and eco-software design company Empauer. The report shows that fresh produce packaging can help mitigate the estimated $10 million of food lost or wasted in Australia each year. Although the focus of the research was on Australia, the results can be applied to globally in markets where fresh produce is © Shutterstock/ F-Stop boy The environment has become one of the most important agendas for the food and drink supply chain. Far from one part of wider corporate social responsibilities, the impact of a company’s operations and those of its suppliers has been placed front and centre with initiatives being put into effect by major manufacturers and supermarkets and laid down by governments in legislation. 18 Á 16-19.qxp_Layout 1 23/09/2019 10:51 Page 218 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net ENVIRONMENTAL SPOTLIGHT typically sold packaged. Of the headline findings, the report shows benefits of packaging for fresh produce included product protection, extension of shelf life and the ability to communicate product information which assist customers in the purchasing decisions. In particular, the report points to the example of punnets used to package berries. In this instance, it found the environmental impact of waste generated from damaged, unsellable fruit outweighed the impact of utilising the punnet. Based on these findings, simply removing packaging isn’t feasible. Instead, the emphasis should be on creating more sustainable, eco- friendly and recyclable packaging. Indeed, the report highlights the importance of working to reduce packaging where “reasonably possible” and stressed the importance of identifying packaging that allow for greater opportunities for recycling. The seemingly greenest option isn’t always necessarily the best, whether for the environment in the long-term or even from a business perspective. For example, McDonald’s phased out its plastic straws as part of its environmental commitments and replaced them with a paper alterative. It seemed an environmentally responsible move, one described by the fast food giant itself as “eco-friendly”. The trouble was that the new straws were too thick to be recycled and so McDonald’s said they should be put into general waste. Of course, the new straws will biodegrade much quicker than their plastic counterparts, but doubtless this outcome wasn’t the original intent. It also risks alienating consumers, many of whom are calling for the plastic straw to return. Recycling is a tough hurdle for the industry to overcome simply because so much of the responsibility lies with consumers. Although curbside recycling rates fluctuate, consumers have been found to get behind the idea of reverse vending machines which take in plastic bottles and offer small in-store discounts. Supermarket chain Iceland trialled a reverse vending machine at selected stores and reported that between May 2019 and August 2019, more than one million plastic bottles were recycled. Of course, that’s just a tiny drop in a massive ocean with some thirteen billion bottles used in the UK each year, but it is an encouraging start. Imagine the impact if all supermarkets in the UK utilised reverse vending machines. While it’s critical to provide recycling options for packaging at the end of its life, it’s even more important to address environmental issues in the design stage. Here industry is leading by example. Tesco, for example, has recently launched the second phase of its ‘Remove, Reduce, Re-use and Recycling’ plan to suppliers outlining the four steps that the retailer said will govern packaging design across all product categories, while Sainsbury’s has committed to halve its plastic packaging waste by 2025. PepsiCo, meanwhile, has committed to phase out thirty-five per cent of the virgin plastic content across its beverage portfolio by 2025. Initiatives such as these are important steps, especially in phasing out virgin plastics and replacing them with recycled materials to create a more closed loop system. But it’s also important for packaging manufacturers and food makers to look towards more sustainable materials such as bioplastics. There’s been a flurry of innovation is this area with companies First flexible, fast and affordable paper bagmaker With several of the major multiples now indicating a preference for paper rather than recyclable plastic for flexible film applications, packaging machinery specialist ILAPAK has collaborated with packaging manufacturer Van der Windt Verpakking to develop a breakthrough bagging solution. An adaptation of ILAPAK’s flagship Vegatronic 6000 bagmaker, the new system can run off paper pillow packs and pouches that can be fully recycled via kerbside collection. “Our engineers have modified the forming tube and sealing system of the Vegatronic 6000 to enable us to run an innovative paper film. With the likes of Tesco keen for suppliers to pursue paper packaging, we are anticipating massive interest in this new system. It is a fraction of the cost of other paper packaging machinery offerings plus it gives users the option of running original films on the same machine,” says Tony McDonald, sales and marketing director at ILAPAK UK. Working together with ILAPAK, Van der Windt Verpakking in cooperation with its printer Cartomat, has successfully developed a paper film called CartoPaper® that uses a special water-based water based non-extruded coating to support both sealing performance and compliance with the European standard EN643.2. A guaranteed paper content of at least 95% means this paper can be recycled. Using the industry-leading Vegatronic 6000 as its starting point, ILAPAK has engineered a progressive bagmaker that can accommodate this film to produce recyclable paper packs for a number of industries, including fresh produce, baked goods, confectionery and pet food. To find out more, visit www.ilapak.co.uk. 16-19.qxp_Layout 1 23/09/2019 10:51 Page 3Food & Drink International 19 www.fdiforum.net ENVIRONMENTAL SPOTLIGHT exploring edible packaging, biodegradable plastics and packaging made from natural sources such as seaweed and waste sources like coffee grounds. Yet there’s only so much that packaging can do on its own, despite the benefits we’ve already explored. But packaging is being increasingly augmented with solutions and technologies purposefully designed to reduce waste. For example, special sachets placed in boxes of fresh produce could extend shelf life by slowing the ageing process and prevent fungus and decay. Others can absorb moisture to help prolong shelf life. Major brands and retailers are really stepping up their game when it comes to the environment, covering much of the supply chain, but it’s agriculture which is one of the biggest producers of greenhouse gas emissions in the world. In order to drive meaningful change here, the National Farmer’s Union (NFU) has revealed a plan outlining three areas where it says British farming can reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. These are: improving farming’s production efficiency; improving land management and changing land use to capture more carbon; and boosting renewable energy and the wider bio-economy. Hand in hand with this approach is the smart farming concept which utilises digital technologies and big data to create a less wasteful, more streamlined and efficient agricultural modal. It also includes the burgeoning area of vertical farming which aims to disrupt traditional agriculture. Big industry players and major investors alike are throwing their financial weight and reputations behind these kinds of start-ups and initiatives which has having a transformative effect on agribusiness. © Shutterstock/ Karen McFarland dŚĞh<ΖƐůĞĂĚŝŶŐƉĂĐŬĂŐŝŶŐƐƵƉƉůŝĞƌƚŽƚŚĞ ĨŽŽĚĂŶĚĚƌŝŶŬŝŶĚƵƐƚƌLJ͕ŽīĞƌŝŶŐĂǁŝĚĞ ƌĂŶŐĞŽĨƉĂĐŬĂŐŝŶŐƉƌŽĚƵĐƚƐŝŶĐůƵĚŝŶŐ͗ ŝƌ^ŚŽĐŬďŽƩůĞƉĂĐŬƐ WĂůůĞƚǁƌĂƉΘƐLJƐƚĞŵƐ ŽdžĞƐĨŽƌďŽƩůĞƐ >ĂďĞůƐ an employee-owned business 16-19.qxp_Layout 1 23/09/2019 10:51 Page 4Next >