< Previous20 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net BAKERY AND CONFECTIONERY Fortification is part of a wider trend taking place across the baked goods and confectionery sector, especially for foods that have been traditionally seen as unhealthy. Many varieties of crisps are now baked rather than fried for lower levels of saturated fat and stripping out artificial colours and flavours has long been a selling point for manufacturers. But whether baked or fried, the presence of acrylamide has become a bigger concern over the last few years. This is a chemical that naturally forms on starchy foods cooked for long periods at high temperatures (defined by the Food Standards Agency as being over 120°C). It’s always been part of our food but is considered a carcinogen. Lab tests show the presence of acrylamide in diet causes cancer in animals and scientists agree that it also has the potential to cause cancer in humans. Because acrylamide can form on foods such as chips, crisps, toast, cakes and cereal, keeping it to a minimum is a challenge for the sector. In response, the food industry has implemented measures to reduce levels in baked goods and confectionery. This includes developing guidance on ways to limit acrylamide formation in a variety of foods and processes. New legislation, meanwhile, will require food business operators to put in place simple, practical steps to manage acrylamide within their food safety management systems. There’s also been several innovative products launched for food makers to reduce the occurrence and presence of acrylamide in their products. This includes a yeast product rich in asparaginase enzyme which, it’s reported, can reduce acrylamide levels by up to ninety per cent. Of course, this is only one of a myriad of health issues facing the market, with salt, fat and sugar among the major concerns. Sugar has taken the lion’s share of the controversy over the years, earning the ire of Government, pressure groups, parents and campaigners, and forming the focal point of the battle against child obesity. Official data released in 2018 showed that severe obesity among children aged between ten and eleven increased by more than a third from 2006 to 2007 to 4.2 per cent – the highest rate ever. An NHS survey, meanwhile, estimates that twenty-eight per cent of children aged between two and fifteen in England were overweight or obese in 2016. It’s a crisis that’s worsening, forcing Government and industry to act. In 2016, the Government announced the Soft Drinks Industry Levy – better known as the ‘Sugar Tax’ – as part of its campaign against childhood obesity. Before it was officially introducing in April 2018, beverage manufacturers © Shutterstock /MariaKovaleva 18-21.qxp_Layout 1 27/11/2020 09:39 Page 3Food & Drink International 21 www.fdiforum.net BAKERY AND CONFECTIONERY reformulated their products, slashing sugar content to comply with the new levy. In practice, it taxes manufacturers eighteen pence per litre produced if the drink contains five grams of sugar per one-hundred millilitres. This rises to twenty-four pence for more than eight grams of sugar. The money raised via the tax is used to fund sporting and healthy initiatives for children and, from April to November 2018, the tax raised £153.8 million. Despite little effect in the shopping and consumption habits of the general public, it’s clear the drink is having a positive effect. More recently, campaign groups Action on Sugar and Action on Salt are now calling on Government to introduce a calorie levy on all calorie dense processed foods. Similar to the Sugar Tax, this proposed levy would encourage product reformulation to reduce fat – particularly saturated fat – as well as sugar content in unhealthy products, the groups say. If passed into law, the move would profoundly affect the bakery and confectionery sector. Yet as with the Sugar Tax, this would likely spawn a wave of innovation and production development. We’re already seeing exciting new product development and innovation within the bakery and confectionery sector with many tapping Synsepalum dulcificum (better known as the ‘miracle fruit’ or ‘miracle berry) as an important tool in the war on sugar. This canny little fruit can make bitter and sour foods taste sweet, therefore offering manufacturers an opportunity to reduce sugar content naturally. Industry efforts against sugar have come in stops and starts. Last year, the industry failed to hit its target of slashing sugar by five per cent over the previous year. But there are encouraging signs, especially over the last six months with initiatives, reformulations and new product launches from major industry players. Mondel ēz International, f or example, is bringing its Cadbury chocolate and wider biscuit products aimed at children under one-hundred calories to help tackle childhood obesity. Nestlé, meanwhile, has created a new chocolate only using the beans and pulp of the cocoa fruit, therefore bypassing the need to add any refined sugar. There’s no denying that the bakery and confectionery sector will continue to evolve moving forward, driven by the need to reduce salt, sugar and saturated fat and add in more of the good stuff. Within that is an exciting opportunity for manufacturers to not only reformulate their existing portfolios but launch brand new products aligned with this changing health agenda. In the coming years, Christmas might not be quite as sinful as it used to be. © Shutterstock /Little Hand Creations 18-21.qxp_Layout 1 27/11/2020 09:39 Page 422 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net END OF LINE PACKAGING End of line packaging is arguably the most important part of the process, and one that many companies have to get right on the first try. There’s no easy means of defining end of line packaging given the depth of its capabilities and requirements. It’s an industry constantly in flux, moving quickly to try and keep up with legislation and trends, while remaining efficient enough to keep the food industry turning a profit. Yet it’s also doing this while meeting the growing requirement for energy efficiency in the supply chain. It is not enough nowadays for a product to simply be protected by its end of line packaging. For the investment that has been put into it, the packaging must make the process more efficient and – if possible – cheaper. Automation has become something of a buzzword, due in no small part to its ubiquity across the industry, from package All in one © Shutterstock /alphaspirit 24 Á 22-27.qxp_Layout 1 27/11/2020 09:45 Page 1While you navigate a rapidly evolving business landscape, WestRock is fully operational and prepared to serve you. Whether you need a single case erector, robotic solutions, a complete integrated system, or something in between, WestRock Automation provides a range of secondary transit packaging equipment tailored to solve your unique challenges. Please reach out and let us know how we can support you. Flexible. Scalable. Adaptable. ©2020 WestRock Company. All rights reserved. westrock.com/automation-uk • aps.uk@westrock.com See our online exhibitor listing at www.ppmashow.co.uk While you navigate a rapidly evolving business landscape, WestRock is fully operational and prepared to serve you. Whether you need a single case erector, robotic solutions, a complete integrated system, or something in between, WestRock Automation provides a range of secondary transit packaging equipment tailored to solve your unique challenges. Please reach out and let us know how we can support you. Flexible. Scalable. Adaptable. 22-27.qxp_Layout 1 27/11/2020 09:45 Page 224 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net END OF LINE PACKAGING © Shutterstock /MOLPIX processing, to packaging right through to delivery. Yet, there are constant developments taking place which improve upon current wrapping machines, robots and rotating arms to achieve a greater efficiency, operate more sustainably and protect bottom lines. This can be a daunting task at first glance. How can a process which is not only going to cost money, but also significant investment in machinery – make the product cost less? The answer is simple and complex at the same time; with good planning. Simply installing shrink-wrapping machinery or palletising processes will do little if there isn’t a bigger strategy behind it, as any within the industry might say. There has to be a view on everything Major organisations call for UK ban on degradable plastics Tesco, Waitrose and Aldi are among more than 40 major organisations calling on the UK Government to stop plastic materials which require additives to degrade to be sold on the UK market. The calls follow news that the British Standards Institution (BSI) enacted a new specification (PAS9017) in October supporting the sale of such plastics. In an open letter, the organisations have called on the Government to follow the lead of the EU, which is banning similar oxo-degradable plastics from next year. The letter highlights how such degradable materials do not solve the global problem of plastic pollution, stating it instead encourages members of the public to litter under the misconception that the material is biodegradable. The letter reads: “These materials contain additives that accelerate the conversion of macroplastics into microplastics after months or years of laying in the open.” It also added: “The UK voted for the EU ban when it was proposed in 2019. Failing to act now could turn Britain from a leader into a laggard in fighting the plastic crisis.” © Shutterstock /Gianni Caito 22-27.qxp_Layout 1 27/11/2020 09:45 Page 3Food & Drink International 25 www.fdiforum.net END OF LINE PACKAGING UK aftersales spares and service support provided. www.robopac.co.uk Robopac, Unit 7 – 8 Highfield Parc, Highfield Road, Oakley, Bedfordshire, MK43 7TA Tel: 01234 825050 Fax: 01234 827070 Email: sales Turntable Wrapping Machines Rotating Arm Wrapping Machines Case Sealers & Erectors Self-Propelled Robot Wrapping Machines Horizontal Wrapping Machines See us at Stand J60 that comes after the point, and what tangible benefit the packaging offers. Take, for example, the transportation process itself. It is still more common than not for food products to be transported by road by lorry. In these cases the biggest investment often comes from fuel, with the item that a company is buying essentially being the empty space in the back of the vehicle. The problem comes from the fact that in many cases, all of this space cannot be utilised. The weight of products will push down on those stacked beneath them, often damaging products beyond what can be sold in a retailer. Obviously this is unacceptable, and thus it is not uncommon for space to go unused in the back of a vehicle. This is empty space that has been paid for. Strong and rigid end of line packaging can help prevent this, strengthening and protecting the product so that more of it can be stacked without damage. This can be a delicate task, least of all because stronger material will undoubtedly be more expensive. There is a necessity to judge and test on how much is saved by filling lorries further than they were before, and whether this takes a significant number of vehicles off the road. In many cases this will depend on the product itself and how fragile it is. Products more prone to breakage will benefit more from the stronger packaging, with biscuits being a prime example. Biscuits typically come in tubes, but these are not solid in any way, shape or form – leading to the fragile treats snapping or crumbling when even the slightest pressure is placed on them. Corrugated end of line packaging can protect them during transit, while also diffusing the weight of additional boxes down supporting frames. If twice as much content can be placed into a single vehicle, then in theory it should allow for a fifty per cent saving on transport costs (or at least fuel). Some of the most significant developments to the packaging industry aren’t whole machines, but rather sensors. Given the increased demands from the industry, which need to correspond to changes in consumer taste and habits, as well as legislative changes, sensors need to be up to the task. Therefore, the very latest sensors and sensor systems need to be designed for complex, frequently changing tasks while also meeting ever more demanding brand protection, safety and documentation requirements. Working in conjuncture with sensors is the use of offline case marking. 26 Á 22-27.qxp_Layout 1 27/11/2020 09:45 Page 426 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net END OF LINE PACKAGING Implementing such a strategy greatly reduces the human error which in turn bolsters efficient practices and decreases the risk of damaged goods and loss. The ability to mark-up secondary packaging offline meets a growing need in today’s grocery market, where the emerging retail channels of discount, convenience and online will account for all the growth over the next ten years as conventional supermarkets decline. For many food operators, this shift is driving a rapid rise in the complexity of their logistics operations as demand grows for mixed cases and little-and-often deliveries to a wider range of locations. With this in mind, having a supply of boxes that are pre- marked with information about their contents and destination helps minimise the chance of human error as products reach the end of the packaging line. This balancing act must be taken further, however, and it’s always important to keep the end user in mind. While saving money on fuel – and thus environmentally as well – might sound nice, the enthusiasm will rarely reach the workers in the warehouses of supermarkets, who will not appreciate packaging that is difficult to get into. Rigid and unyielding end of line packaging that might have been good for protecting the product from strain, will not always be the easiest to break apart for the shelves. Unless it is specifically designed to be so, that is. Product display packaging and trays have helped to minimise this © Shutterstock /MOLPIX 22-27.qxp_Layout 1 27/11/2020 09:45 Page 5Food & Drink International 27 www.fdiforum.net END OF LINE PACKAGING problem, with many forms of transport packaging actually transforming into display packs with relative ease. To use the examples of biscuits again, looking back fifteen years it’s possible to remember that many biscuits were hand stacked on shelves. Nowadays it is different, with most transit packaging including perforated lines where the top part can be torn off or pulled back, revealing the products inside a branded container. This is then placed onto the shelf itself, allowing consumers to reach in and take the product at will. This kind of innovation is commonplace now, but was revolutionary at the time – not only saving the manufacturer time and money, but also the retailer. It also allowed manufacturers to have more control over their branding and advertising, as they could have free rein on designing the displays. Endoline Automation launches case packing technology for snacks market Endoline Automation has launched a new fully- automated Case Packer system to assist snack processor and packers automate within compact spaces. It combines case erecting, packing and sealing technology within one system, and has been engineered to pack a range of different snack products – from pillow bags to flat bottomed bags/pouches and PET bottles. The all-in-one Case Packer is a cost-effective alternative to installing a trio of individual machines, and has been engineered in response to rising demand from snack manufacturers who are increasingly looking to automate packing lines, reduce their footprint, and move away from manual labour. With precise product handling at speeds of 12 cases per minute, the Case Packer receives single products from an infeed conveyor, groups them according to the programmed pattern on a loading platform, before lowering them into a formed case below, the filled case is then automatically closed and sealed on the top and bottom with tape. To find out more, visit www.endoline-automation.com. Social distance products businesses safely 02476 420065 22-27.qxp_Layout 1 27/11/2020 09:45 Page 628 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net PROCESS, CONTROL AND AUTOMATION © Shutterstock /i viewfinder The advantages of automation 28-31.qxp_Layout 1 27/11/2020 09:47 Page 1Food & Drink International 29 www.fdiforum.net PROCESS, CONTROL AND AUTOMATION While food manufacturing has been recognised as relatively slow to embrace modern aspects of automation, these have become increasingly important as labour shortages and expenses rise. For instance, according to NatWest, by 2024 a third of the food and drink industry’s workforce in the UK will be due to retire, leaving it 140,000 people short. The food industry therefore looks to innovative automation solutions to plug gaps. Consequently, smart machines, like intelligent robotics, along with sensors, and AI are all becoming more commonplace, especially as technology prices start to decline and advances in technology continue to push ahead. Automation extends to ovens, mixers, cutting machines, sorting equipment, wrapping equipment, filling equipment, Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGVs) and much more in the food industry. This is drastically altering how employees work at food facilities, seeing them move away from the assembly line and instead take up a position in a control room where they are tasked with making sure operations work smoothly, modifying processes and dealing with any problems that arise. Roles in food manufacturing are becoming more technically skilled, appealing for staff to program automated equipment and deploy artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) to optimise performance. The shift in job requirements takes staff away from potentially dangerous roles, eradicating injuries, and by reducing human contact with products, automation reduces chance of contamination and instances of human error, allowing for more consistent products and higher accuracy in tasks like weighing. Across primary and secondary processing automation has seen an uptick as its benefits become more widely recognised, particularly regarding robotics. In the past, use of robotics in primary processing was limited due to differences in the shape, size and weight of raw foods and ingredients, but now, improvements in sensing and soft gripping, enabling a gentle hold to be taken on delicate products such as 30 Á Food manufacturers are increasingly embracing automation to combat labour shortages and increase operational efficiencies. It’s also bringing a slew of other advantages. 28-31.qxp_Layout 1 27/11/2020 09:48 Page 2Next >