food quality | Food Engineering

Keeping Food Safe While Raising Cold-Chain Operating Temperature From -18°C to -15°C (-0.4°F to 5°F)

Raising temperatures to save energy makes sense, but not at the expense of endangering food safety.

August 20, 2024

Green initiatives have shown that raising cold-chain temperatures by 3°C from -18°C to -15°C can save the industry money, but how well can equipment in service support the move?

Risk-based Sanitation

Develop a Risk-based Approach to Sanitation

Having a plan and taking action on a continual basis helps keep uninvited squatter bacteria out of your facility.

Wayne Labs

May 16, 2024

Keeping bacteria out of food facilities involves a committed risk-based approach to sanitation and being diligent day-to-day in cleaning and keeping records of past bacteria locations—plus training employees to be ever mindful of thorough and effective cleaning.

Analytical Instrumentation: How Low Can You Go?

Today’s analytical instrumentation is answering the call to finding extremely low levels of unwanted chemical contaminants in food.

Wayne Labs

September 1, 2022

Residual and potentially dangerous chemicals in food and drinking water have been in the news lately (see this month’s Manufacturing News for an update on PFAS) as one such report found that 80% of urine samples drawn from children and adults in the U.S. contained glyphosate. FOOD ENGINEERING has also had its share of news on heavy metals in food and baby food. Why are we seeing so much contamination?

Field Report

Filtration for extra virgin olive oil ensures its purity

Spanish EVOO producer uses cellulose filter sheets to ensure its early-harvested oil is free from impurities

Sharon Spielman

December 16, 2021

Spanish EVOO producer uses cellulose filter sheets to ensure its early-harvested oil is free from impurities

Food inspection machine increases foreign object detection rates up to 500%

ProSpection Solutions uses EtherCAT and PC-based control technology from Beckhoff to optimize low-density foreign material inspection system

July 8, 2021

In 2017, ProSpection Solutions began its transition from machine distributor to machine builder OEM. One of the first products its engineering team designed was the IP69K-rated low-density foreign material detection and removal system.

New Plant Products

Cloud-based environmental monitoring

June 15, 2021

The platform digitalizes food safety and quality programs by aggregating, normalizing and centralizing data and transforming them into actionable insights.

Building a food safety culture requires buy-in from everyone

Richard F. Stier

March 5, 2021

Anyone who has spent a few years working in the food industry, whether you are involved with the production of foods, beverage or ingredients, knows the truth of Murphy’s Law: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

Pet Food

Pet food: Safety and quality count

While pet food production continues to flourish during the pandemic, processors take quality and safety seriously

Sharon Spielman

December 3, 2020

All pet food manufacturers must address the same basic principles of food safety as their human food counterparts.

Endress+Hauser's iTHERM line of temperature sensors

Tech Update

Controlling temperature from farm to fork protects product quality, brand name

Wayne Labs

July 16, 2020

Temperature is that one measurement that’s dictated by governmental regulations to prove that you have a kill step in your process. Beyond that, there are rules for keeping fresh food under a certain temperature to keep it safe both in transit and storage, and—just as important—maintain its quality so you don’t have to throw it out prematurely.

Food quality plans help meet demand, maintain quality certifications

Sharon Spielman

July 15, 2020

Consumers expect their food to be safe, and there are methodologies to ensure that it is. Quality is a bit of a different story, but it's just as important when it comes to consumer expectations.

ON DEMAND: 58% of food producers worldwide have been affected by a recall in the last five years. Do you know how much you’re spending on food safety and quality? From appraisals and prevention to managing production failures and product returns, the costs can add up quickly – and often aren’t measured. Poor product quality and safety issues impact not just the bottom line but also a brand’s reputation with retailers and consumers.