Food Quality & Safety New Products: February/March 2020

Head and Tongue Wash

Beef harvest plants are known to use a lot of water for sanitation programs. Not only does that mean using a disappearing resource, but it also generally means high operation costs. Processors need to pay to pipe in water, heat it, and treat outgoing water. In addition, some areas of the country experiencing drought-like conditions are enforcing stricter standards on water usage.

The patented Birko head and tongue wash is proven to effectively wash heads and tongues while reducing water consumption in plants significantly. The system works by capturing each head and tongue as they enter the cabinet and spraying water with 3-dimensional, contoured arbors that oscillate, following the heads and tongues. The arbors shut off between washes and move back to the front of the cabinet to capture the next head and tongue. Birko, birkocorp.com.

Campylobacter Test Kit

Romer Labs, a provider of diagnostic solutions for the agricultural, food, and feed industries, is announcing that its RapidChek line of solutions for pathogen testing will now include a test kit for Campylobacter. RapidChek Campylobacter couples a sensitive immune-detection strip with a proprietary aerobic enrichment media. Poultry processors testing carcass rinses, turkey carcass swabs, and raw ground chicken get clear results within 20 minutes (after incubation), ensuring accuracy and enhancing compliance with emerging U.S. regulations.

The test kit was developed in collaboration with a large poultry processor looking for an efficient way to comply with new USDA regulations that require the industry to implement qualitative testing for the pathogen using enrichment-based procedures. The kit detects the three regulated species: C. jejuni, C. coli, and C. lari, in carcass rinses, raw ground chicken, and turkey carcass swabs. Romer Labs, romerlabs.com/en/campy.

UV-Vis Spectrophotometers

Shimadzu Scientific Instruments (SSI) introduces a new UV-i group of UV-Vis spectrophotometers designed to provide improved quality control productivity, data analysis and management, and operating efficiency. The new series consists of six models: UV-1900i, UV-2600i, UV-2700i, UV-3600i Plus, SolidSpec-3700i, and SolidSpec-3700i DUV.

All six of the spectrophotometers in the series include an automatic pass/fail determination for improved efficiency. The systems are equipped standard with a spectral evaluation function in the software that automatically determines whether data satisfies specified criteria. This function helps to improve the efficiency of quality control operations by eliminating the manual data analysis steps required after spectra are acquired.

The UV-i spectrophotometers also include automatic measurement for improved operating efficiency. By connecting an autosampler unit, the systems can analyze up to 360 samples automatically. Used in combination with the spectral evaluation function, the entire process, including pass/fail determination, can be fully automated.

In addition, these new spectrophotometers improve data analysis and data management. Operators can send data to an Excel spreadsheet in real time or simultaneously save information as a text file. This function reduces time spent sending data to separate software for data analysis. Shimadzu’s LabSolutions software includes advanced security functionality for solutions compliant with electronic records and electronic signature (ER/ES) regulations. Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, ssi.shimadzu.com.

Wash and Clean System

Grundfos, a water technology company, has debuted a new wash and clean system for the food processing industry. The Hydro HP is a high pressure clean and wash booster set that provides steady pressure from 5 gpm up to the system set point of 150, 250, 350, or 500 gpm. The Hydro HP is energy efficient, reliable, and easy to maintain, offering customers full realization of ROI after the first few maintenance cycles. Grundfos, grundfos.us.