Supplier News
RELCO Teams Up With New Zealand’s Technopak To Provide Sanitary Bagging Lines For Dairy Plants
RELCO, LLC, has teamed up with Technopak Limited of New Zealand, as the US distributor, to provide Technopak’s fully automated USDA sanitary bagging lines for dairy and food plants.
The Technopak 25-kilogram bagging lines can achieve speeds ranging from one to 10 bags per minute on one common packaging line by use of an innovative modular configuration, RELCO explained. The modular components of the system are designed for maximum individual component flexibility and provide opportunity for cost-effective upgrades.
The Technopak packaging systems are designed to minimize dust during the bagging operation and achieve repeatable high accuracy final bag weights, RELCO noted. All of these packaging systems can be integrated with necessary downstream components to meet the high demands of customers, such as bag flattening, metal detection, bag rejection, ink jet printing, check weighing, robotic palletizing and stretch wrapping.
Pre- and post-bag powder gassing operations can be integrated with the filler heads to achieve extended shelf life for high-fat products, RELCO said.
An optional vacuum sampler system provides continuous composite samples using two or three divert positions for any of the automated packaging lines.
For more information, contact Jon Bloch, product manager, at (320) 905-4122; call the RELCO office, at (320) 231-2210; or visit www.relco.net.
M-TEK Introduces New Vertical Bagging System For Cheese
M-TEK said cheese and other food companies can enjoy increased production efficiencies and easier maintenance in their vertical bagging systems with its new V60 vertical bagger.
The V60, M-TEK said, includes value-added features that maximize flexibility and performance in dairy operations.
Key attributes, according to the company, include a high pressure, washdown design, without removing or covering machine parts.
Additional attributes include:
robust all stainless steel construction is standard; capable of cycle speeds over 100 per minute; fewer wear parts equals lower cost of ownership; innovative, linkage-free seal and film advance systems; and exclusive patent pending cam driven cross seal jaw assembly with programmable jaw opening adjustments, according to the company.
Established in 1982, M-TEK conducts its manufacturing operations in Elgin, IL.
For more information on the vertical bagging system, visit M-TEK at www.mtekcorp.com; or phone (847) 741-3500.
Krohne Says Its New Optiflux 6300 PMO Meter Improves Pasteurization Loop Output, Efficiency
Krohne, Inc., has introduced its new Optiflux 6300 Grade A Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO) meter, which the company said shortens the holding time for milk in the pasteurization loop, improving output and increasing efficiency.
The Optiflux 6300 is approved by the Atlantic Midwest Dairy Equipment Review Committee (AMDERC) for use in pasteurization loops in accordance with FDA requirements, Krohne noted.
Offered in a range of sizes from one-half to four inches, the all stainless steel Optiflux 6300 PMO meter comes with Tri-Clover fittings. It is equipped with several new security features, including software with a lock-out feature to preclude tampering, an external locking device that prevents opening the cover to reprogram the meter, and the ability to affix the meter with a state inspection seal.
The Optiflux 6300 has been certified as meeting all relevant FDA and AMDERC standards and requirements, and has been reviewed by FDA for use in a pasteurization loop installation, Krohne provided in the statement.
The meter is approved under 3-A Sanitary Standards and is compliant with clean-in-place (CIP) requirements.
For more information, email info@krohne.com; or visit www. krohne.com/northamerica.
Allied Blending Introduces Pathogen Inhibitor Technology To Enhance Safety Of Shredded Cheese
Keokuk, IA—Allied Blending & Ingredients, Inc., a leading provider of functional value-added food ingredients for the cheese industry, has introduced SecureFlo™ pathogen inhibitor technology, a food-grade powder specifically designed to decrease the number of pathogens in a finished food product, even after packaging has been opened by the end user.
SecureFlo enhances the safety and extends the safe consumption period of shredded cheese products by significantly reducing pathogenic microbial growth including Listeria, Salmonella and E. coli, while maintaining desired natural flavor and appearance, Allied Blending said.
SecureFlo is delivered as a functional attribute in anti-cake systems and is effective with both starch-based and cellulose-based anti-caking agents, Allied Blending announced.
For more information, call Allied Blending at (800) 758-4080; or visit www.alliedblending.com.
Tetra Pak Launches Next Generation Of Tetra Tebel Cheddar Blockformers
Tetra Pak is launching the next generation of its successful Cheddar cheese blockforming unit. The new Tetra Tebel Blockformer enables cheese manufacturers to improve environmental performance, reduce costs and minimize product loss, the company said.
Thanks to lower energy consumption, the new units offer a 25 percent carbon dioxide reduction compared to the Tetra Tebel Blockformer 5 TwinVac version.
The reduced use of air, water and electricity results in a 20 percent running cost reduction per kilogram of cheese, Tetra Pak said. In addition, weight accuracy is improved by as much as 20 percent.
Tetra Pak said these improvements in performance are the result of a number of innovations, driven by the company’s focus on increasing both environmental and operational efficiency. Among them:
—A new door system that reduces product loss. The unique double-action door offers a smooth transition of blocks to the conveyor and a tight seal against chamber.
—An integrated curd-air separation for easy cleaning. Integrating the separation process into the top of the tower in order to intercept carry-over of curds means less equipment to install and leads to a reduction in maintenance and investment.
—New vacuum pumps with frequency controllers to save energy. Unlike conventional systems, where the pumps run flat out at all times, frequency controllers run at the speed required at any given moment and the pump slows down in the event of a stop on the line.
—A new tower design that reduces wear and boosts quality. The entire tower has been made much more robust for a longer, trouble-free lifetime. It’s been redesigned for easier cleaning. And the liner has a special surface treatment that gives a very smooth block surface.
—A new guillotine system that cuts downtime. The system can be replaced in about 20 minutes.
—A new elevator cylinder for easy, accurate operation. It’s based on a simple pneumatic system, with a hygienic, stainless steel lowering cylinder, for reliable lowering and portioning. There’s very little wear and tear so there’s excellent long-term precision as well as lower cost.
—A new user-friendly control system allows the producer to have a single screen for multiple block formers or one screen for each.
For more information on the new Tetra Tebel Blockformer, visit www.tetrapak.com. r
A&B Process Systems, Denmark’s Simatek Team Up To Create First US 3-A Authorized CIP-able Baghouse
A&B Process Systems has teamed up with Simatek of Denmark to create what is being touted as America’s first 3-A authorized CIP-able Baghouse.
The A&B Simatek CIP-able Baghouse is the only baghouse available in America that features a highly efficient Simatek Pulse-Jet Filter, A&B noted.
And it’s the only 3-A approved CIP-able baghouse on the market today, A&B added.
A&B explained how its CIPable baghouse can save time, money, product and energy:
• It reduces downtime associated with cleaning. Bags are cleaned in place, eliminating the need to disassemble the baghouse.
• It recovers product unlike wetscrubber applications.
• It saves energy costs with the uniquely designed Simatek Pulse Jet Filter Series 3C that requires a much lower cleaning pressure (only 10-13 psi) but produces high pulse volume and high pulse energy to accomplish both primary and secondary cleaning.
• It saves money on water utilities compared to wet scrubbers, as no water is needed in production.
With five manufacturing facilities, in-house designers, and its own controls group with a UL-certified panel shop, A&B is able to assist developers of new technologies (both clients and engineering firms) with developing pilot scale or demonstration scale skids, on up to commercial scale production modules to turn their theories into reality.
For more information on the Simatek Baghouse, contact Eric Fehrenbach, A&B Process Systems, at (715) 506-0415; or e-mail efehrenbach@abprocess.com.
CrystaLac Lactose Crystallizing Evaporator Added To RELCO’s Lactose Processing Technologies
The CrystaLac™ evaporator is a new and unique addition to RELCO’s lactose processing technologies that the company said sets a new benchmark for lactose production.
The patent pending technology has been proven at industrial scale to deliver significant yield gains and superior process stability over traditional equipment, RELCO said.
Traditional technology evaporates permeate solids to 60 to 65 percent before controlled cooling and crystallization in standard crystallizing tanks, the company explained. The CrystaLac process utilizes a forced circulation evaporator to further concentrate permeate to 72 to 75 percent solids while initiating and controlling crystal growth in a recirculating slurry.
Once the evaporator reaches the targeted solids concentration and crystal mass the process becomes a steady state “feed and bleed” operation, RELCO noted.
Hydro cyclones are used to continuously classify a portion of the slurry by crystal size. Larger crystals are preferentially sent forward to traditional cooling crystallizing tanks, while the smaller crystals are returned to the evaporator to allow for further growth.
As the feed to the crystallizers already contains a consistent supply of lactose crystals selected on size, these crystals continue to grow with a minimum of new smaller crystals forming. Importantly, RELCO said, the resulting crystallization is more predictable, stable and consistent between each tank.
Benefits of the CrystaLac evaporation, according to RELCO, are:
• 10-20 percent higher product yield.
• Improved stability for downstream operations, buffering any upstream process variations.
• A narrow, consistent particle size distribution with minimal variation between crystallizer batches.
• Fewer crystallizer tanks required.
• Increased mother liquor solids concentration.
• Low fouling due to temperature differences used for heat transfer, resulting in long production runs.
Major components of the CrystaLac evaporator are: Calandria, Vapor Separator, Hydro cyclone classifier; shell and tube surface condenser; and vacuum pumps.
For more information, contact a RELCO sales engineer at (320) 231-2210; or visit www.relco.net. '
Natec FreeSlice System Designed To Replace Chill-Roll Systems For All Slice On Slice Production
The new Natec FreeSlice system is designed for all Slice On Slice (SOS) production and is intended to replace the old chill-roll systems.
The system was invented for Hochland, a major cheese producer in Europe, for process cheese production, according to Manfred Selig, manager sales and technology, Hochland Natec, which supplies Hochland with equipment and technology and also sells the equipment to other cheese companies. The system now also handles natural Mozzarella and analog cheese.
A few years ago, Hochland concluded that the chill roll system was not a state-of-the-art system; the company wanted a new system which avoids all the weak points of that system.
Hochland started using the FreeSlice system since 2004. The system replaced the existing chill rolls in all the Hochland plants and now worldwide in various plants.
Selig listed several advantages of the FreeSlice system compared to chill roll systems.
First, the system can be paused because it's cooled only with cold water, not with glycol. Once there's an interruption, the system is paused automatically and the cold water feeding is stopped. The cheese remains between the belts and there are no losses even if the system is paused for several minutes, Selig indicated.
Another advantage of the FreeSlice system is the vertical belts; that provides better flexibility in producing thicker slices, Selig said. The FreeSlice system can produce a slice that's up to about a half-inch thick.
Hochland runs the system without any trim. Selig used McDonalds as an example of the no-trim system. During its production for McDonald's, there is no need to cut off any cheese on either side to get a nice edge.
That means there is 100 percent output without any trim; that is, there is no rework generation, Selig said.
Also, when starting up chill rolls or casting lines, there's often rework generated, in the hundreds of pounds if not thousands of pounds. The FreeSlice systems start up with "significantly less" than 100 kilos (200 lbs and usually less than 50 kilos (100 lbs), according to Tony Jacobsen of Scan American Corporation, which markets the FreeSlice system in North America.
Having the two belts with the cheese in between, there is a "very stable weight accuracy," Selig said. The weight accuracy from the Hochland plants shows that they are really running the product with the target weight, and there are no deviations.
As far as hygienic design and cleaning are concerned, there is a totally enclosed cabinet with laminar air flow, as well as, complete internal CIP system included with the FreeSlice system This is a stand-alone CIP; the system is cleaned automatically.
Two versions of the FreeSlice system are available: the FreeSlice 1500, with a capacity of 1,800 kilograms (4000 lbs) per hour, 2,100 slices per minute and 14 ribbons of cheese; and the FreeSlice 3000, with a capacity of about 3,500 kilograms (8000 lbs) per hour, 3,640 slices per minute and 28 ribbons of cheese.
Regarding flexibility, the FreeSlice system is now available with a shredder; that way the
shredding is no longer done in a two-step process. The cheese is cooled and formed and then goes right into the shredding system in one step.
Mozzarella can be done in this way, moving from the stretcher-cooker system, into the FreeSlice system, cooled and then shredded.
For more details, contact Tony Jacobsen, Scan American Corporation, at (816) 880 9321, extension 42; or e-mail mail@scanamcorp
Cooker Stretcher Continuously Produces Mozzarella With Steam, No Bath Cook Water
Kansas City, MO—GoldPeg International and Scan American Corporation are marketing a new cooker stretcher that the companies say uses only steam to heat the curd.
The GPiCS “dry” cooker stretcher from Australia’s GoldPeg International produces natural Mozzarella and pasta filata cheese varieties continuously with no bath cook water, the company said.
GoldPeg specializes in continuous direct steam injection cooking and processing technology. The company’s RotaTherm® direct steam injection continuous cooking system is used around the world to cook and process a variety of food products, including processed cheese products.
GoldPeg has been working in direct steam injection technology with the RotaTherm for about 25 years, according to Alastair Sorley, the company’s international business manager and a dairy technologist who was industry-trained in New Zealand.
About five years ago, GoldPeg started to work with Mozzarella, which is a “natural extension” from processed cheese, Sorley explained. The company identified a need for a more efficient continuous cooking system for sensitive Mozzarella and pasta filata products that was also sensitive to the environmental/effluent pressures on food manufacturers.
As it started to look into pasta filata cheese manufacturing, GoldPeg started to understand the challenges these cheese makers faced, Sorley continued. Some of these vary by country or market; in New York, for example, the company was faced with kosher challenges, while within Australia the company is faced with environmental challenges in terms of water usage, salty whey and effluent disposal.
There is also the “age-old challenge of just managing losses,” Sorley noted. That is, what can be done with all of the protein, salt and fat that’s being lost?
GoldPeg worked with the Australian government and CSIRO for over a year and extensively modified the RotaTherm to come up with the flexible GPiCS, which is described as a low pressure, low shear, direct steam injection continuous cooking system. The flexibility of the GPiCS allows it to produce a full range of natural Mozzarella, string cheese and pasta filata varieties, GoldPeg noted.
The key advantage to GoldPeg’s GPiCS is that “there is no bath cook water at all,” Sorley said. So companies don’t, first of all, have to buy and treat the water, then use it and reprocess it and try to remove the solids from it.
“So a huge advantage is reducing secondary processing costs,” Sorley said. For some customers the scale of that benefit is going to be greater or less.
Other benefits of the GPiCS, Sorley continued, include the fact that the “shutdown losses are significantly reduced.” Virtually every piece of curd that goes into the GPiCS system comes out as cooked and stretched Mozzarella; “we don’t have to manually open the system and pull out hundreds of pounds of partially cooked Mozzarella and send that off somewhere for rework.”
Another key point about the GPiCS is that, while a lot of the traditional systems are manual cleaning (or there may be a lot of manual intervention before getting to CIP), “it really is empty, flush with water, on to CIP,” and you’ve turned around the system from the last piece of cheese out to cheese going in again “within two hours,” Sorley explained.
GoldPeg does have fully automated systems, he added, and they really are just “green-button start.” That means the system responds to the up-and-down stream demands of the curd-making or the moulding downstream to filling and forming. The GPiCS will ramp up and down slowly to meet the rates up and down stream.
GoldPeg’s GPiCS is patent-pending in the US, Sorley said.
Scan American Corporation of Kansas City, MO, is GoldPeg’s North American distributor.
For more information, contact Tony Jacobsen, Scan American Corporation, at (816) 880 9321, extension 42; or e-mail mail@scanamcorp; or visit www.goldpeg.com.
New Tubular, Gusseted 640 Block Liner From Kelley Supply Saves Time, Improves Cheese Yields By
Reducing Trim Losses
Kelley Supply has introduced a new, tubular block liner that the company said can shorten the time it takes to line a 640 box and improve cheese yields.
Kelley Supply has applied for a patent on the liner, which was invented by Greg Alberts, the company’s president.
When cheese is manufactured in 640-pound blocks, a round liner that resembles a large plastic bag is used to line the 640 box before the curd is poured in, Kelley Supply explained. Aligning the round liner in the square or rectangular 640 box is time-consuming for the personnel preparing the block, and it often results in wrinkles and folds in the liner along the block/liner interface.
These wrinkles and folds can become embedded in the outer surface of the finished cheese. The end user then has to spend time trimming these surfaces to avoid the presence of liner material in the finished cheese product, Kelley Supply noted.
Not only does this reduce production efficiency due to wasted time, it also results in yield reduction due to the amount of cheese lost to trimming, the company pointed out. Also, the round liner tends to result in rounded block corners rather than square ones, which also tends to reduce yields (due to the preference for square corners during later measuring and packaging, since the square products help promote greater product uniformity).
Kelley Supply’s invention relates to a block liner which is gusseted on at least two opposing sides, with central folds being defined on opposite sides of the tube, and outer folds then being situated on opposite sides of each central fold. These outer folds are equally spaced from the central fold, and the distance between the outer folds is preferably equivalent to the distance between opposing inner walls of a 640 box.
As a result, the liner can be installed in the square or rectangular interior of a 640 box, with dimensions closely conforming to the inner measurements of the 640 box.
Thus, the time it takes to line a 640 box is shortened; an assembler need not take as much time and care to try to line the box with the liner smoothly conforming to the block walls, Kelley Supply explained. And yields are improved by reducing or eliminating loss from having to trim the sides of the finished cheese to remove embedded liner.
For more information about Kelley Supply’s new tubular 640 block liner, visit www.kelleysupply.com; or call (800) 782-8573.
Filtration Engineering Introduces NIR Analyzer For Dairy Plant Environment
Filtration Engineering Company has introduced ProSpect, a near infrared (NIR) analyzer that scans and indicates the level of protein and other milk constituents at varying concentration levels in UF, MF and other process equipment systems.
This information is fed back to the membrane system PLC or other process system with accuracies equal to the laboratory test method used as the basis for calibration, Filtration Engineering (FE) said. ProSpect’s ability to continuously monitor and indicate the constituent concentration reduces the number of lab tests.
Designed specifically for the processing plant environment, the ProSpect analyzer gives processors in-line, real-time process control, helping to reduce out-of-spec product as well as product “giveaway” and assures consistency of operation not previously available, FE said.
In addition to WPC, FE has developed successful calibrations for a wide range of dairy products, such as whole milk, skim milk, MPC and cheese milk. The analyzer has been calibrated for multiple constituents including fat, protein, lactose and total solids.
The ProSpect analyzer is mounted adjacent to the process system in a stainless steel NEMA 4 cabinet. The fiber optic cables are installed directly into the process line in a specially designed stainless steel sanitary flow cell. The unit is capable of reference cell scanning during normal operation and verifies the calibration on a continuous basis, FE said.
For more details, call 1-800-553-4457. r
CrystalBan™ Prevents Calcium Lactate Crystals In American-Type Cheese; Improves Yield
A new process aid has shown to prevent the formation of calcium lactate
crystal in aged Cheddar, Colby, and Monterey Jack manufacture.
Nutricepts, Inc. said CrystalBan™ is an organic salt added to the curd
about the same time as the last salting. By increasing the solubility of calcium
in the cheese, the company said, calcium lactate crystals are not able to form.
Mark Cater, presient of Nutricepts said that commercial scale manufacturing runs,
thus far, have produced 18 month old CrystalBan treated Cheddar with no calcium
lactate crystals while untreated cheese from the same plants show crystals before
6 months.
The CrystalBan product also functions by simultaneously stopping culture activity
throughout the cheese. The results, according to Cater are better control over
pH and moisture.
“Whether it’s a 40 pound block, a 640 pound block or barrel cheese,
you get a much narrower range of pH and moisture throughout the finished cheese,” Cater
said
Cater said that one series at a large Cheddar plant produced samples from three
vats treated with Crystal Ban. He said these vats were tested for pH and moisture
and compared to samples of untreated cheese. The average pH of the treated
cheese was 5.25 compared to 5.07 for the untreated cheese. In addition, the
average moisture of the treated cheese was 37.3 percent compared to 36.1 percent
for the untreated cheese.
“Most importantly,” Cater said, “the average moisture levels
with CrystalBan were closer to target without being over specification in cheese
near the surface of the block. As a result, higher yields were achieved with
CrystalBan.”
Cater described the product not needing any special labeling requirements, not
having any off flavors, nor producing color or odor defects.
Development of the CrystalBan concept was partially funded by the University
of Minnesota and the Midwest Dairy Association, Cater said.
For more information on Crystal Ban, call 952-707-0207 or for more detailed information,
visit www.crystalban.com.
APT’s New Advanced Cheese Vat (ACV) Seeks To Increase Efficiencies, Performance
Cokato, MN —Advanced Process Technology (APT) has introduced a new cheese
vat that was developed to increase efficiencies and provide peak performance.
The new Advanced Cheese Vat (ACV), the company said, offers several improved
features that make the vat “very competitive with existing cheese vats
being used in the dairy industry today.”
Craig Campbell, co-owner of APT, said his company is extremely excited to bring
to the marketplace the ACV.
“When we were considering whether or not to develop a cheese vat, we knew
we had to offer something unique and more effective than the other four or five
vats on the market,” Campbell said.
APT first started to have interest in building cheese equipment in the summer
of 2004, when a few customers started looking to expand.
“Cheese belts and block formers are limited to a specific group of customers,
whereas the cheese vat has interest from all cheese plant customers,” Campbell
said. “Our first investment needed to attract the largest customer base.
And frankly, it fulfilled most of our customers’ needs as well.”
Over the course of several months, the design and drawings were being established. “We
broke down the steps of cheesemaking and asked what changes to the design could
improve and economically impact cheese manufacturing during these cheesemaking
steps,” explains
Gary Starkson, cheese technologist for APT.
APT worked intently on the 3-A certificate for the seal material; machining of
individual parts to specific dimensions; and the overall building of the ACV
in accordance with USDA guidelines extended the completion time a little longer
than APT wanted, admitted Campbell.
“We are very grateful that we have a customer that committed to this project.
We both understood that they (cheese manufacturer) also had an investment in
the project and we continued together to install and implement the ACV into their
system,” says Campbell.
The ACV was installed in March, 2006. After nine months of trials, the ACV has
held up well, making several varieties of cheese successfully, Campbell said.
Most mechanical features are described as standard by APT. “We are very
excited about our patent pending rennet inject manifold and our patent pending
adjustable agitator seal,” Starkson said. “The agitator is a counter
balanced design, unlike the other three cheese vats with single shaft agitator
designs.”
Based on side by side comparisons with a competitive cheese vat, APT said that
the ACV whey fats have been lower indicating that there is increased cheese yields.
Please fill out the following so we can provide you more information.