New Tools in the Fight for Food Safety

Packaging

MOCON Inc. of Minneapolis, Minn., has developed two new systems for food applications.

One of the standard screening techniques for assessing microbial safety in food is the aerobic plate count, also known as total viable count or total plate count. Traditional APC testing is performed on agar or film plates that provide nutrients for the bacterial sample, explained Alan Taylor, business manager for food safety.

ABI, Inc

MOCON recently introduced the MultiCheck 400, which includes the first automated testing capability for one-way degassing valves, which are used frequently on laminated bags for roasted coffee beans.

MOCON’s new technology, GreenLight, yields precise, quantifiable results in a much shorter time than prior methods. The GreenLight 910, uses a sensor probe to detect oxygen depletion caused by aerobic bacteria. The unit has been designed to be cost effective and easy to use. Targeted at food processing companies with low-to-medium throughput requirements, the GreenLight 910 unit significantly reduces the testing time and labor needed to determine aerobic bacterial counts in meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, and produce. Processors and packers get same-day, precise results in a cost-effective manner.

The unit provides an APC of a food sample’s microbial load by using a sensing assay or vial. As bacteria in the test sample multiply and respire, they consume oxygen. The change in oxygen is used to calculate the original sample’s colony-forming units per gram for solids or per milliliter for liquids.

MOCON also recently introduced the MultiCheck 400 Package Integrity Test System, which includes the first automated testing capability for one-way degassing valves, according to Anthony Ahmed, product manager. These valves are used most frequently on laminated bags for roasted coffee beans. The beans emit carbon dioxide, which, if not vented, will eventually rupture the package. The valves allow pressure to be released from an air-tight package while preventing air from getting back in. Air, particularly oxygen, has a negative effect on food shelf life, allowing aerobic bacteria to breed. One-way valves can also be found on flexible packages for pet food and other applications.

MOCON’s Valve Test Unit enables food producers to test both the burst point of the one-way valve and whether it leaks. The information is critical to ensuring that the valve will release at the designed pressure point and that O2 is not entering the package through the valve.

Supply Chain

Many food safety initiatives focus on what is or could be introduced to the production line by inspecting incoming ingredients, restricting access to facilities, and screening employees. However, it is equally important to ensure the safety of food after a product leaves the plant.

Without some type of tamper-evident method, a product can easily be compromised, either in transit or while sitting on the store shelf. Food packagers who want to employ additional safety methods in their packaging need look no further than the recent past and developments in over-the-counter pharmaceuticals.

ABI, Inc

Systems such as the new Super Seal Touch from Enercon Industries Corp. feature full network connectivity and an on-board touch screen that allows for recipe management, operator lockout, and detailed fault and diagnostics information, enabling induction sealers to be integrated with complex packaging lines.

Faced with FDA mandates to improve package tamper evidence, OTC pharmaceutical manufacturers quickly adopted induction cap sealing. In the past 30 years, induction cap sealing has become a go-to technology for this industry.

“Induction has succeeded because it scores well on the factory floor as well as on the store shelf,” explained Mark Plantier, vice president of marketing at Enercon Industries Corp. in Menomonee Falls, Wis. “Induction cap sealers are relatively inexpensive packaging systems, and they are easy to install over existing conveyors and have a very compact footprint. As a non-contact process, their implementation into a packaging line is quite unobtrusive.”