Food Engineering articles from July 2002

Food Engineering archives from July 2002

No passing fancy for food makers. (Editor's Note).
July 1, 2002... BACK IN THE DAYS WHEN PEOPLE FIRST STARTED talking about nutraceuticals, I can remember industry colleagues wrestling with the true definition of these products and arguing about how to spell the word. Frequents discussions on the subject...

Calendar.
July 1, 2002... September 2002 10-12 Developing & Implementing HACCP for the Meat & Poultry Industry, University of Georgia, GA, Marian Wendinger: (706) 542-2574. Marianw@arches.uga.edu, http://fsext-outreach.ces.uga.edu. 16-19 10th Italian...

Oland Breweries. (Plant Openings & Expansions).
July 1, 2002... Oland Breweries is expanding the capacity of its 135-year old plant in fax, Canada, from one million hectoliters per year to over 1.2 million per year. The $14 million project, which began in March, includes a series of upgrades to the...

Masterfoods, USA. (Plant Openings & Expansions).
July 1, 2002... Masterfoods, USA, a division of Mars Incorporated, has completed a $74 million expansion project at its confections plant in Cleveland, TN. The majority of the investment includes new equipment purchases and production line installations and...

Cargill. (Plant Openings & Expansions).
July 1, 2002... Cargill is nearing completion of its new $45 million plant in Chambly, Quebec. Construction of this 130,000 square-foot plant began in late 2001 and is scheduled to be complete in September 2002. The plant will process beef, pork, minced meat...

Grupo Calvo. (Plant Openings & Expansions).
July 1, 2002... Grupo Calvo is building a new tuna plant in Punta Gorda, El Salvador. The facility will increase tuna production to 600,000 pounds a day. Construction began in May of this year and is expected to add 700 jobs to the region.

Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc. (Plant Openings & Expansions).
July 1, 2002... Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc. broke ground on an 112,000 square-foot expansion to Zeller Plastic, its plastic closures division located in Libertyville, IL. Scheduled to open in February 2003, the new $6.8 million facility will significantly...

Attack of the healthy tomato! (Manufacturing News).
July 1, 2002... SCIENTISTS HAVE DEVELOPED A TOMATO THAT CONTAINS AS MUCH AS THREE and a half times more of the cancer-fighting antioxidant lycopene. While working to develop tomatoes for food processing that were of higher quality and would ripen later,...

International Association of Food Industry Suppliers. (Industry & People).
July 1, 2002... The Foundation of the International Association of Food Industry Suppliers (IAFIS) awarded Food Engineering scholarships to Purdue University's Merysia Enggalhardjo, a junior majoring in agricultural and biological engineering and Virginia...

GE Specialty Materials. (Industry & People).
July 1, 2002... GE Specialty Materials acquired a water treatment services business to be known as GE Betz. GE Betz provides engineered chemical treatment of water and process systems in industrial applications and is headquartered in Trevose, PA.

Pall Corporation. (Industry & People).
July 1, 2002... Pall Corporation acquired SeitzSchenk Filter Systems and other divisions of the Filtration and Separations Group (FSG) from USFilter Corporation. The other divisions include Filterite and Fluid Dynamics, headquartered in the United States; and...

Alfa Laval. (Industry & People).
July 1, 2002... Alfa Laval has created a global Scraped Surface Heat Exchanger Product Center, in Newburyport, MA.

Sweetheart Cup Company, Inc. and EarthShell Corporation have signed a letter of intent that allows Sweetheart to become the primary supplier of EarthShell Packaging in North America. (Industry & People).
July 1, 2002... Sweetheart Cup Company, Inc. and EarthShell Corporation have signed a letter of intent that allows Sweetheart to become the primary supplier of EarthShell Packaging in North America. Sweetheart is the largest manufacturer of single-use food...

Sartorius, AG. (Industry & People).
July 1, 2002... Sartorius, AG named Mary Lavin president and managing director of Sartorius North America, Inc. located in Edgewood, NY. The first woman to hold this position in the Sartorius Group of companies, Lavin joined Sartorius in 1988 and has served as...

Shuttleworth, Inc. (Industry & People).
July 1, 2002... Conveyor manufacturer, Shuttleworth, Inc. promoted John Shuttleworth to vice president customer services, North America. In his new role, Shuttleworth is responsible for sales as well as for the service and parts departments in North America.

Maurice (Skip) Knapp joined Sartorius, North America as vice president, mechatronics division. (Industry & People).
July 1, 2002... Maurice (Skip) Knapp joined Sartorius, North America as vice president, mechatronics division, laboratory business area, Sartorius Products. Knapp will coordinate the development and implementation of laboratory, industry and service...

Silliker, Inc. (Industry & People).
July 1, 2002... Silliker, Inc. recently appointed Jocelyn Alfieri as director Silliker Canada Co. She will be responsible for managing scientific operations, quality systems and staff in order to provide accurate and timely services to food processors,...

GEA Filtration Division of Niro Inc. (Industry & People).
July 1, 2002... GEA Filtration Division of Niro Inc. appointed Bruce Blanchard as its sales manager. Also joining the division is Michael Roberts as process engineer.

Biolabs on a chip speed pathogen identification. (Manufacturing News).
July 1, 2002... PRODUCTS THAT MERGE BIOLOGY WITH GLASS, PLASTIC, silicon, or even cellulose, biochips are effective tools in the field of molecular identification. Applications include the identification of pathogens in the agro-food industries as well as...

Active packaging takes off. (Manufacturing News).
July 1, 2002... Although some active packaging technologies have been commercial for more than 20 years, their acceptance has not been widespread. Emerging developments however, will generate a 19% compound annual growth rate for the next five years with...

`First' class packages take DuPont Awards. (Food Packaging).
July 1, 2002... PET FOOD AND PASTA PRODUCTS WERE THE leaders of the pack at the 15th annual DuPont Awards held August 9 in Philadelphia. Thirteen international food and non-food packaging innovations were honored in a tough competition year marked by a high...

Totally tubular foods. (Food Packaging).
July 1, 2002... IF YOU'RE BETWEEN THE AGES OF 6 and 12, there is something strangely appealing about opening a tube of food and squeezing the contents into your mouth. Now marketers are capitalizing on that impulse with a rash of new products. Freeze pops...

Try educating, not training: training programs should be short and focused, applicable to the worker's job, and interactive. (Food Safety).
July 1, 2002... THE AUSTRIAN EDUCATOR, RUDOLPH Steiner said, "If you hear, you forget. If you see, you remember. If you do, you understand." This should be the basis of all educational programs that are developed for food processing plants. Education is one of...

Bush expands food bio-terrorism authority. (Regulatory Watch).
July 1, 2002... PRESIDENT BUSH SIGNED BIO-TERRORISM legislation substantially expanding federal regulatory authority over the food industry, but John R. Cady, president and CEO of the National Food Processors Association, said the post September 11 measure...

HACCP plans continue to pay off. (Regulatory Watch).
July 1, 2002... USDA is stepping up food protection, not only from terrorist threats, but old-fashioned natural enemies as well. Dr. Elsa Murano, under secretary for food safety, points to data collected since 1998 that shows rates of Salmonella decreasing in...

FDA continues to scrutinize meat supply. (Regulatory Watch).
July 1, 2002... Since September 11, FDA has devoted more of its resources to countering potential terrorist threats to the food supply. Deputy Commissioner Lester M. Crawford told the Consumer Federation of America recently that the agency is paying...

Dairy plant masters the mix: high-intensity mixer/dissolver is easy to keep clean and requires little maintenance. (Field Reports).
July 1, 2002... RICHFOOD DAIRY HAS A FACILITY IN Richmond, VA that turns out a variety of blended milk and other diary products, juices, and fruit drinks. Blending and mixing is an important part of the operation, and Plant Manager Dean Smith was unsatisfied...

Real time information pays off for specialty meat company: new system helps Premium Brands gain standardization and visibility over all operations, providing cost savings and better decision-making. (Field Reports).
July 1, 2002... THE MARGIN BETWEEN SUCCESS AND failure in the food industry can be razor thin. Processors are constantly being forced to rethink and retool. One success story in this area is Premium Brands, Inc., of Richmond, British Columbia. Premium...

The culture of clean: there's no shortage of sanitizing chemicals and tools to keep food plants safe. The challenge is ensuring they're used effectively. (Cover Story).
July 1, 2002... When an Avian influenza (AI) outbreak in early spring quarantined poultry farms on the eastern seaboard, a collective shudder was felt by processors, breeders and regulators. The last major AI outbreak in the U.S. turned into a decade-long...

The outsource option: food companies are taking a closer look at outsourcing production, support services and even management responsibilities.
July 1, 2002... Is manufacturing a core competency of food companies? The question would have been ludicrous in decades past, but times are definitely changing. Wave upon wave of new-breed food executives are entering the industry, armed with palm pilots...

Standards lead the way to flexible batch processing: ISA S88 and S95 provide key frameworks for organizing batch operations. (Technology Update).
July 1, 2002... Batch operations have something from every type of manufacturing discrete control, continuous processes, multiple ingredients, and significant operator interaction. But batch operations have been somewhat of a lost child in the area of control...

Integrating maintenance into plant ERP software: plant-wide visibility to maintenance and production schedules and transactions improves profits and productivity. (Managing Software).
July 1, 2002... IF A PLANT HAD POLITICAL PARTIES, there probably would be just two: Production and Maintenance. These competing groups have put more that one plant into a productivity tailspin. We know of one plant manager who was so distraught over the...

Food machinery lubricant. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Fiske Brothers Refining Co.'s Lubriplate Division introduced a clear, USP white, mineral oil-based aluminum complex grease manufactured with ingredients that comply with FDA regulation 21 CPR 178.3570. It is safe for use on all types of...

Food-grade lubricant debuts. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Krytox FG, a new line of perfluorinated oils and greases from DuPont Performance Lubricants, was recently approved by NSF for H-1 food processing applications, The lubricants are designed to meet extreme operating temperatures in food plants,...

Food-grade grease. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Behnke Lubricants Inc./JAX has a line of food-grade greases. JAX HALO-GUARD FG food-grade, corrosion control grease is designed to complement others in the JAX line and is formulated for use on high temperature food processing equipment and all...

Lubricants & rust preventatives. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Diversified Brands, a division of the Sherwin-Williams Company has a line of Sprayon products formulated for use in federally-inspected meat and poultry plants. The products include Food Grade Silicon Lube, Synthetic-Modified Dry Lube,...

High-performance lubricant. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Keystone Lubricants' PolyPerformance grease offers high temperature performance and stability, making it especially suited for electric motor bearings and hard-to-reach parts and fittings. The NLGI Grade 2 formula contains inhibitors for...

Non-caking lubricant. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Bettcher Industries introduced WhizLube, to enhance the casing and flexshaft performance of Whizard Modular and Series II Trimmers. WhizLube causes no caking and buildup, reducing flexshaft vibration for better operator control and comfort, the...

Chemical lubricant. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Kano Laboratories, Inc. offers its new chemical lubricant, Kroil, for loosening rusted nuts and bolts, freeing frozen shafts and unsticking and lubricating conveyors. By creeping into millionth-inch spaces, Kroil dissolves grease and carbon,...

Lubrication system. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Lincoln introduced Quicklub QLS 301 and QLS 311 lubrication systems for applications using a customer's PLC. The units include a pump and an integrated metering device. They are available in 24-volt direct current models that monitor systems...

Precision lubrication. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Lincoln's new ORSCO 170 precision lubrication system handles up to 16 lubrication points, delivering a precise amount of lubricant on a continual and controlled basis. It is available either as complete system or in two modular packages. The...

Industrial lubricating fluids. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Dow Corning added 42 new fluids to its line of industrial lubricants. These new fluids last up to 10 times longer than conventional products, Dow Corning says. Being sold under the trade name Molykote, this new line of lubricants is comprised...

Impingement oven. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Heat and Control, Inc.'s AirForce impingement oven improves food safety because it cooks uniformly across the full width of the product conveyor, eliminating the need for overcooking. Designed with centralized air circulation fans in the...

Product densification unit. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Extru-Tech's new Product Densification Unit (PDU) is designed to take expanded extrudate from a cooking extruder and increase the bulk density up to 720 kg/m/3. According to the manufacturer, the PDU eliminates the need to reconfigure the...

Sanitary heat exchangers. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Alfa Laval introduced a new heat exchanger product line that includes sanitary plate heat exchangers, semi-welded plate heat exchangers, scraped-surface heat exchangers and brazed heat exchangers. This equipment is suitable for food, beverage,...

In-line flowmeter. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Thermal Instrument Company introduced the Model 600-9 Thermal Mass Sanitary In-line Flowmeter with 9500 integral microprocessor electronics designed for measuring the flow of liquids and gases. According to the manufacturer, it offers an...

Multi-packer/bundler. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... The Schneider Packaging Equipment Co. Inc. introduced the MP-20 Multi-Packer/ Bundler for single aseptic cartons. The unit takes aseptic cartons of single drink box units and collates them into a bundle, inserts a "J" card and shrink-wraps it...

Process monitoring system. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... The Think Gates Service from Thinkage is designed to assist producers who have to meet tighter customer specifications and stricter food safety regulations while fulfilling the growing demand for more product styles in shorter runs. It helps...

Low-pressure transmitter. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Dresser Instrument introduces the Ashcroft DXLdp low-pressure transmitter with a SpoolCal process valve actuator. According to the manufacturer, for the first time, transmitters in critical airflow systems can be easily validated and calibrated...

Forklift truck. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Crown Equipment Corporation offers its new FC 4000 Series 4-wheel sit-down rider lift truck. Its new cab forward design provides operators with all-around visibility and positions them within an optimum line of sight to the fork tips or load....

Conductivity meter. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Palintest USA introduced a lightweight, multi-range conductivity meter for applications ranging from testing deionized water through brine. The Micro 500 Conductivity meter monitors demineralization and other high purity water treatment...

Programmable step control. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Indeeco Controls makes $95 Programmable Step Control to fit a variety of OEM and replacement applications. This includes duct heaters, process air heaters, immersion heaters and electric boilers. The unit is designed with four...

Puck handling & insertion. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Omega Design Corporation's Model PRP can handle containers of any shape. Its features include patented rotating pockets that can accommodate a wide range of shapes and sizes of plastic, glass or aerosol containers. These multiple pockets reduce...

Welding system. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Swagelok Company has an orbital welding system for the food, beverage and dairy markets. According to the manufacturer, the system provides weld data management features and labor-saving innovations in programming, fixturing and weld...

Infrared thermometer. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Fluke Corporation introduces the Fluke 61 Infrared Thermometer for measuring rotating, electrically live, dangerously hot or hard-to-reach objects. With a laser beam for easy aiming, the Fluke 61 is suitable for meeting the needs of electrical,...

Refrigeration valves. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Hansen Technologies Corporation offers control valves in sizes 3/4 and 6-inch, shut-off valves in sizes 3/8 to 16-inch and technical equipment for C[O.sub.2] service. The valves are tagged and colored in yellow for easy identification. The...

Conveyor system. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Automated Product Systems Corporation's case conveyor systems are designed to sort, distribute, store and retrieve in automatic warehouse applications, beverage/dairy or food/USDA applications. Features of the case conveyor system include...

Guided wave radar transmitter. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... K-TEK offers the MT2000, a guided wave radar level transmitter that measures the level of bulk solids and liquids under harsh conditions with an accuracy of +/-0.20 inches (5.1). The MT2000 overcomes false echoes and complicated set-up...

Ball valve. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Marvin Ball Valves introduced the 3L/T2Q33 Series 3 & 4 Way Valve for piping design involving diverting, blending or mixing applications. Available in sizes 3/8-inch through 1 1/2-inch, the multi-port ball valve consists of a heavy duty...

Gearmotors. (Focus on Lubricants).
July 1, 2002... Baldor Electric Company redesigned its line of right angle gearmotors. New features of these gearmotors include an internal expansion bladder (chamber) and Mobil synthetic SHC 634 oil bath lubrication. Because the redesigned gearheads are not...

Putting contaminants in a new light: vision-based system will help meat and poultry processors identify trace amounts of fecal material. (Engineering R&D).
July 1, 2002... SHINE A LIGHT ON AN OBJECT, THEN ELIMINATE the light source, and the object will briefly glow in the dark as it reflects back a different color light. The same natural phenomenon occurs with pheophorhide, the metabolized chlorophyl that remains...