Food Engineering articles from June 2003

Food Engineering archives from June 2003

Oreos, irradiation, biotechnology.(food industry)(Editorial)
June 1, 2003... NO, THESE ARE NOT NEW JEOPARDY categories of the answers waiting for the question from the great and powerful Carnac. Our baby boomer and above age group readers may recall Johnny Carson as the caped Carnac. Carson would mysteriously solve...

Calendar.(Calendar)
June 1, 2003... JUNE 2003 23-27 NPE 2003, McCormick Place, Chicago, IL, Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (202) 974-5200, 27-29 Annual Meeting of Research & Development Associates for Military Food & Packaging Systems, Desert Palms Resort, Palm...

ConAgra Foods Incorporated.(Plant Openings & Expansions)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... ConAgra Foods Incorporated plans to build a new refrigerated storage and distribution warehouse in York County in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Roche Vitamins and Fine Chemicals Division.(Plant Openings & Expansions)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Roche Vitamins and Fine Chemicals Division recently opened a new premix facility and a state-of-the-art analytical laboratory in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The new facility will produce approximately 2000 tons of vitamins and mineral premixes a year...

A subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, Inc., Patrick Cudahy is planning to invest $12.2 million to reopen a facility in Iowa.(Plant Openings & Expansion)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... A subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, Inc., Patrick Cudahy is planning to invest $12.2 million to reopen a facility in Iowa. The Golden Crisp Premium Foods division of Patrick Cudahy will operate the facility. Initially, the project involves...

Oden Corporation. (Plant Openings & Expansions).(to move to Tonowanda, New York)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Oden Corporation, maker of custom-designed liquid filling and blending systems, is moving its headquarters to Tonowanda, NY. The new facility has more than 25,000 square feet of space, integrating R&D, manufacturing, sales, customer service and...

RFID: coming soon to a store near you. (Manufacturing News).(radio frequency identification tags U.K.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Inventory management issues and distribution chain efficiency challenges are two of the many factors that will drive the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. Minimization of theft/shrinkage, reduction of labor costs and...

Inspectors not up to snuff?. (Regulatory Watch).(International Dairy Foods Association on U.S. Food and Drug Administration)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... At least one industry trade group is raising objections to FDA's new, stepped-up HACCP inspections. FDA implemented new inspection regulations two years ago to evaluate industry compliance after several illness outbreaks caused primarily by...

Bioterrorism Act may cause undue burden. (Regulatory Watch).(National Food Processors Association on U.S. Food and Drug Administration)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Food manufacturers have filed a formal response to FDA on some of the Agency's proposed regulations under the 2002 Bioterrorism Act. The National Food Processors Association said any new regulations imposed under the act should not...

Advanced Instruments, Inc. will acquire 100 percent of the stock of Delta Instruments B.V., a Netherlands-based manufacturer of analytical instrumentation used to analyze milk and dairy products. (Industry & People).(Food Engineering)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Advanced Instruments, Inc. will acquire 100 percent of the stock of Delta Instruments B.V., a Netherlands-based manufacturer of analytical instrumentation used to analyze milk and dairy products. The products will continue to be marketed under...

Gainco has made two new appointments in its engineering and product development departments. (Industry & People).(appoints Robert S. Dirksen and Jim White)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Gainco has made two new appointments in its engineering and product development departments. Chief Engineer, Roberst S. Dirksen has been promoted to the director of engineering. The company's new electrical engineering manager is Jim White.

Members of the International Association of Food Industry Suppliers (IAFIS) elected one new member and reelected four members to its Board of Directors. (Industry & People).(Food Engineering)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Members of the International Association of Food Industry Suppliers (IAFIS) elected one new member and reelected four members to its Board of Directors. Fred W. Beer, Dream Company Limited, was reelected to the Packaging Director seat. Brian K....

Two reelected At-Large Directors are Ivan G. Larsh, WEDECO Ideal Horizons, and Viggo Nielsen, Safeline Inc. (Industry & People).(International Association of Food Industry Suppliers)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Two reelected At-Large Directors are Ivan G. Larsh, WEDECO Ideal Horizons, and Viggo Nielsen, Safeline Inc. Two vacant Board seats were filled, as well. John Rooney, Evergreen Packaging Equipment/International Paper, was appointed to a one-year...

3 IAFIS members were reappointed to the foundation of the association's board of directors. (Industry & People).(John Fearn, Wolfgang Stamp and Bruce D. Poulterer appointed to International Association of Food Industry Suppliers)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... 3 IAFIS members were reappointed to the foundation of the association's board of directors: John Fearn, Walter Stainless Equipment Co. Inc., Wolfgang Stamp, Fristam Pumps, Inc., and Bruce D. Poulterer.

Alfa Laval Inc. appointed Zino Lappas as national sales manager. (Industry & People).(Food Engineering)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Alfa Laval Inc. appointed Zino Lappas as national sales manager. Previously he served as the company's eastern regional sales manager.

Institute of Packaging Professionals. (Industry & People).
June 1, 2003... The Institute of Packaging Professionals has issued a call for entries for its 2003 AmeriStar Package Competition. The deadline is July 1. Any engineer, supplier, marketer or packager is eligible provided he or she has been involved in the...

Packages with an Italian accent: machinery and material innovations were on display for 45,000 visitors to Milan's 2003 packaging show. (Packaging).(Advertisement)
June 1, 2003... IPACK-IMA, ITALY'S BIENNIAL FOOD PACKaging and processing equipment show, convened as the clouds of war were gathering over Iraq, further depressing the outlook for North American visitors. As in other markets, plastic continues to take...

Pouch adds convenience to value-added poultry. (Packaging).(Food Engineering)
June 1, 2003... PROCESSORS OF PROTEIN FOODS WANT new products that break out of the commodity mold and fetch a premium price. Livingston, Calif.-based Foster Farms thinks it has such a product: Fresh & Easy, a line of boneless/skinless chicken parts that...

Corn-based plastic packaging wins another convert(er). (Packaging).(Advertisement)
June 1, 2003... It took two years, but Cargill Dow LLC has snared its first North American package converter for NatureWorks PLA, a polyactide polymer made from the carbon in corn sugar, rather than petroleum. Wilkinson Manufacturing Co., a Fort Calhoun,...

The production versus quality dilemma: management needs to create a working environment where each group not only understands the role of the other, but also where they need to work together. (Safety).(Food Engineering)
June 1, 2003... FOOD PLANT MANagers and operations directors need to create an atmosphere of cooperation and trust among the individual operating groups within the organization. This includes production, quality, shipping, customer service and any other...

Collapsible container. (Technology Sourcebook).(Advertisement)
June 1, 2003... IPL Products Ltd. offers a full line of SmartCrate handheld, collapsible plastic containers suitable for moving perishable groceries and other products to retail and for plant-to-plant transfers of work-in-process materials.These collapsible...

Distribution box. (Technology Sourcebook).(Advertisement)
June 1, 2003... Lumberg inc. has added a stainless steel M12 distribution box to its food & beverage product line. Constructed of high-grade stainless steel for chemical resistance (acids and alkaloids), it replaces crevices that can harbor bacteria with...

AC motor. (Technology Sourcebook).(Advertisement)
June 1, 2003... Imperial Electric offers an enclosed AC permanent split capacitor motor product line designed to operate trouble-free under demanding conditions. Its enclosed "clamshell" design, liquid-tight connectors, cast aluminum capacitor cover, heavy...

Bearing units. (Technology Sourcebook).(Advertisement)
June 1, 2003... MRC Bearing Services has introduced new high strength, corrosion-resistant Marathon HDI Series cast iron bearing units and Marathon XDs cast stainless steel bearing units as well as IWIS drive chain products for packaging applications. The...

Bag-in-box filling machine.(Advertisement)
June 1, 2003... Van Meurs has a new bag-in-box filling machine for both aseptic (high or low acid ESL) and non-aseptic filling with very large production capacities. These machine can be configured with single or multiple filling heads, and offer easy and...

Label inspector.(Advertisement)
June 1, 2003... Care Controls, Inc.'s Canalyzer RTLI is a new roll-through label inspector unit for high volume filling and packaging lines. The unit, which enables 1,000 pieces to pass through, inspects them for label presence (shiners), improper gluing...

Transformer.(Advertisement)
June 1, 2003... Kistler-Morse released its new ORB 2.0 Transformer designed to offer users better control of material information. The simple graphical trending and data logging allows users throughout the organization to configure and use data as they need it...

Twin-screw extruder. (Technology Sourcebook).(Advertisement)
June 1, 2003... Clextral's Evolum HT 53 twin screw extruder offers food processors increased torque and screw speed that provide two to four times the throughput of similarly sized twin screw extruders. The Evolum HT 53 (53mm screw diameter) can pump out 200...

Co-rotating extruder. (Technology Sourcebook).(Advertisement)
June 1, 2003... The C2TX from Wenger is a conical corotating twin-screw extruder that generates compression continuously through out the barrel. The co-rotating conical screws have a profile that kneads the ingredients as they are forced through the extruder....

High pressure washer. (Technology Sourcebook).(Advertisement)
June 1, 2003... Alto Cleaning Systems' new KEW POSEIDON high-pressure washer uses KEW C3 pump technology. The C3 pump with the low wearing KEW wobble discs, 4 ceramic pistons, fiber reinforced seals and brass pump head allows an inlet temperature of up to...

Protective packaging. (Technology Sourcebook).
June 1, 2003... Pactiv Corporation offers microfoam polypropylene (PP) foam under the brand name microfoam XFS as a protective packaging for food applications. Microfoam XFS is compliant with FDA regulations for all food applications, under all conditions at...

Edge protectors. (Technology Sourcebook).
June 1, 2003... Roberts PolyPro's Recyclable Edge protectors are durable and lightweight. They are designed for products in transit such as corrugated cartons of box board. The Edge Protectors are made of plastic and unlike paperboard protectors, do not absorb...

Mix-blend systems. (Technology Sourcebook).
June 1, 2003... Garroutte introduced an integrated dry product mix blend system that includes a vibratory feeder, weigh belt or rotary valve discharges. These systems feature an integrated design with hydraulic bulk box dumpers, dried fruit granulators,...

Centrifugal pump. (Technology Sourcebook).
June 1, 2003... Alfa Laval Inc. released a new brochure on its line of LKH centrifugal pumps. The eight-page brochure discusses the performance limits, construction and features and benefits of the four models of LKH pumps. The four models include the LKH...

Extrusion. (Technology Sourcebook).
June 1, 2003... Coperion Corporation launched its ZSK MEGAvolume twin-screw extruder with closely intermeshing, co-rotating screws. According to the manufacturer, this unit provides food processors a larger free volume and the capacity to increase screw speed...

Screw conveyor. (Technology Sourcebook).
June 1, 2003... Cyclonaire Corporation launched FlexFlite Flexible Screw Conveyors for conveying a wide range of dry solids for material handling. These screw conveyors use steel augurs and flexible tubes up to 100 feet long to move materials at rates as high...

Mixing system. (Technology Sourcebook).
June 1, 2003... Charles Ross and Son Company offer the new Ross VersaMix Model VMC in change can sizes ranging from one to 200 gallons working capacity. Similar fixed tank units are available up to 3,000 gallons capacity. The VersaMix combines up to three...

Bag packing system. (Technology Sourcebook).
June 1, 2003... Spiroflow Systems, Inc. has added the new Force Flow Bag Packing system to its line of bag packing products The Force Flow Packer utilizes fluidization to rapidly fill bags by supporting the particles in an upward system. Designed for low...

Washdown bench scale. (Technology Sourcebook).
June 1, 2003... Alliance Scale, Inc. unveiled the Alliance/ Ohaus CHAMP IP65 Bench Scale, a washdown bench scale that provides legal for trade resolution for parts counting and has a user-selectable stabilizing time from 1 to 4 seconds for dynamic weighing....

Food processing motors. (Technology Sourcebook).
June 1, 2003... WEG Electric Motors Corporation offers motors from 1 up to 30 hp designed for high-moisture applications such as food processing. Features of the unit include double-sealed ball bearings, IPW55 water-tight, dust-tight enclosure, fully gasketed,...

Level indicator. (Technology Sourcebook).
June 1, 2003... K-TEK Corporation added the new Model KP Bin Level Indicator to its line of continuous and point level detection solutions. According to K-TEK, the indicator costs 15 percent less than comparable switches. Features include a screw-off cover...

Heat exchanger. (Technology Sourcebook).(Waukesha Cherry-Burrell)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Waukesha Cherry Burrell's Model 6x24 Scraped Surface Heat Exchanger can be used in a laboratory of in applications that require a specific residence time. This addition to the Votator II family is available in either vertical of horizontal...

Bucket conveyors. (Technology Sourcebook).
June 1, 2003... NERAK Systems introduced bucket conveyers and pendulum bucket conveyors with rubber chains. The buckets are manufactured of food grade certified plastic that conveys the materials gently and without destruction, says the manufacturer. The...

Palletizing system. (Technology Sourcebook).
June 1, 2003... Columbia Machine, Inc. has new palletizing accessories that provide options for "mixed retail stacking." This involves stacking loads with alternating product layers of even different products within each layer. Columbia Machine, Inc.;...

Plate condenser. (Technology Sourcebook).
June 1, 2003... Alfa Laval Inc, launched a plate condenser called the AifaCond specifically for condensing vapors under low-pressure, low-vacuum conditions in evaporation and distillation systems. The unit is suitable for replacing direct condensers and...

Ask the expert.(Food Engineering)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Q How can I minimize costly, unscheduled equipment downtime? A Preventive maintenance programs can reduce the likelihood of downtime and enable you to respond more quickly to problems. Consider these simple steps when establishing and...

Package test equipment. (Technology Sourcebook).
June 1, 2003... PBI-Dansensor America Inc. has gas-analyzing devices that are designed to provide food processors and packagers with accurate and traceable modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) headspace analysis data to assure the shelf-life safety, quality and...

Scoring system. (Technology Sourcebook).
June 1, 2003... Pechiney Plastic Packaging Inc. unveiled the LaserTear, a precise scoring technology that creates easy to-open tear lines set exactly to manufacturer's specifications. According to the company, LaserTear forms a directional score in the film-be...

Optical sorter. (Technology Sourcebook).
June 1, 2003... Key Technology introduced a new camera option for Optyx its Optical sorter. With one pass, applications susceptible to single-sided defects such as apple or potato slices are easily sorted to achieve the highest level of product quality, the...

Plant design suite. (Technology Sourcebook).(CADWorx 2004 by COADE Inc. www.coade.com)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
June 1, 2003... COADE, Inc. released a new version of the AutoCAD-based plant design suite, the CADWorx 2004. The new features of the CADWorx 2004 include the ability to increase the size of plant models while making it easier to learn and use the program....

Automated cottage cheese vat. (Technology Sourcebook).
June 1, 2003... Hosokawa Bepex has a new automated cottage cheese vat designed to improve curd definition and yield. This product automatically retrieves self-contained cutting and mixing tools directly from a COP (Cleaned Out of Place) tank and returns them...

Positive displacement pumps. (Technology Sourcebook).
June 1, 2003... The NEMO Progressing Cavity Pump division of NETZSCH Incorporated offers SF and SP positive displacement pumps for handling highly viscous, dry and non-flowing materials. The NEMO SF pumps incorporate the company's NM Series oversized open...

Filling system. (Technology Sourcebook).
June 1, 2003... Spiroflow Systems, Inc, offers a semitruck filling system that includes a mobile bulk bag discharger with an integral aero-mechanical conveyor that can be positioned easily by a single operator. The product eliminates the need to build...

26th Annual Plant Construction Survey: clean, lean, safe, secure: the number of projects remains flat as processors focus on cost cutting and food safety.(Industry Overview)
June 1, 2003... It's the economy, stupid. No, wait a minute. It's food safety, stupid. Regardless of your point of view on the current challenges facing the food industry, most food and beverage companies are keeping their wallets close to the vest when...

Food production's juggling act: as Food Engineering's Automation & Manufacturing Conference made clear, processors have to cope with a lot more issues than increased throughput in today's market.(2003 Food Automation & Manufacturing Conference and Expo)(Industry Overview)
June 1, 2003... Reconciling the sometimes-contradictory goals of improved food safety and greater production throughput is one of the greatest challenges facing food and beverage manufacturers, and professionals from some of the industry's leading companies...

New-age beverage plant: new soft-drink facilities have become a rarity. That put added pressure to do it right with Pepsi Bottling Ventures' North Carolina greenfield project.(Company Profile)
June 1, 2003... PROCESSORS ARE BEING HELD TO HIGHER HYGIENE standards than ever before, new packaging that is more difficult to handle is coming on line, and flexibility has replaced sheer volume as manufacturing's mantra. Those issues helped shape the design...

Real-time revolution: market pressures are prompting food company executives to invest in data-collection systems to improve product consistency and yield.
June 1, 2003... THE REPORT IN FOOD ENGINEERING DESCRIBED THE CLASSIC "win-win" food companies dream about: two exciting, new ready-to-eat, frozen chicken products, breaded in one case and lightly marinated in the other. Homemakers would happily pay a premium...

Special tools, special people: a combination of technology and training is needed to raise the level of food plant sanitation standards. (Update).
June 1, 2003... FOOD PATHOLOGY EXPERTS ARE FOND OF SAYING THERE'S no silver bullet for the delivery of safe food. The same can be said about safe operating environments. Each new tool in sanitation technology adds another layer of complexity to a procedure...

Juice maker squeezes more out of its inventory: by installing demand planning software, Tropicana gains forecasting accuracy, fewer out of stocks. (Field Reports).(Company Profile)
June 1, 2003... TROPICANA, A $2 BILLION BUSINESS UNIT OF PepsiCo, is the third biggest-selling brand in grocery stores today, accounting for about 25% of all orange juice sold in the US. Head-quartered in Bradenton, FL, Tropicana maintains several...

Spiral retrofit eliminates waste: modular plastic belts save bakery $50,000 per year. (Field Reports).(Irvines Bakery a division of Goodman Fielder New Zealand Ltd.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... IRVINES, A DIVISION OF Goodman Fielder New Zealand Limited, is well known for its high-quality pies, pizzas, and pastry products. Two years ago, the Irvines bakery in Auckland had problems with its spiral cooler metal conveyor belt, which led...

Tritech Industries Inc. (product of the month).(ultrasonic cutting system for confectionery, snack foods, baked goods and cheese products)
June 1, 2003... Manufacturers in the food industry are continuing to face pressures of consolidation, increasing capacity through existing lines, quality and food safety issues. These items coupled with the need to increase profitability forces processors to...

Challenges in sanitary engineering: significant hurdles had to be overcome to bring FMC FoodTech's freezer design up to a higher food-safety standard. (Engineering R&D).(Food Engineering)(Interview)
June 1, 2003... HELSINGBORG, SWEDEN-BASED Frigoscandia Equipment has produced its GYRoCOMPACT line of spiral freezers for a quarter of a century, with various belt widths and other features introduced in fits and spurts over that time. Compact design and a...