The need to manufacture food that is both safe and hygienic continues to take global precedence and food quality requirements are steadily growing. As a result, the need for rapid and user-friendly methods to monitor and ensure food integrity continues to rise globally. Find out how FT-NIR has proven to be a powerful technology for the control of raw materials as well as intermediate and finished products along the production chain, see how it also offers fast and easy analysis at low cost on page 16. Maintaining hygiene in the food processing environment is essential for food safety assurance. To ensure that hygiene is managed effectively, it is important to have an intentional and dedicated cleaning programme, find out on page 16 how to implement a comprehensive and consistent cleaning programme to protect and maintain a positive food safety culture. Regulations on food safety standards, and retailer guidelines clearly outline the food industry’s responsibilities regarding allergen control. In recent years the GFSI-benchmarked food safety standards increasingly emphasised the importance of allergen management, which highlighted the need for manufacturers to validate, verify, monitor and continuously improve their allergen controls to show due diligence, read more on page 20.

Enjoy the read!

Kelebogile Nondzaba

“Early birds” have until 31 March 2023 to quality for discounted fees for the 2023 SAPICS Conference and Exhibition, Africa’s leading event for supply chain professionals. The “Early Bird” registration option provides delegates with a substantial discount on their fees for the 2023 conference – if they book their place and pay the registration fee before this offer closes at the end of March, SAPICS, The Professional Body for Supply Chain Management, has announced.

Now in its 45th successful year, the annual SAPICS Conference is Africa’s foremost knowledge sharing and networking event for supply chain professionals. It takes place in Cape Town from 11 to 14 June 2023. “In these tough times, we are pleased to be able to offer delegates a significantly discounted price for June 2023 if they take up the Early Bird offer. By enabling companies and individuals to budget now, we hope to ensure that they don’t miss out on Africa’s premier supply chain conference,” says SAPICS president MJ Schoemaker.

Reflecting the unprecedented challenges facing supply chain professionals in today’s increasingly volatile, uncertain and complex business arena, SAPICS has announced that the theme of the 2023 SAPICS Conference is “Forward Thinking Supply Chains”. “The past two and a half years of disruption have shown that traditional and historic supply chain processes are insufficient,” Schoemaker states. “Companies have increasingly discovered that what they were doing could not contend with the constantly changing environment and new challenges. In addition to COVID-19, supply chains have been impacted by numerous other chaotic disruptions in recent years, including the blockage of the Suez Canal, riots and unrest in parts of South Africa and issues at the Port of Durban, the COVID-induced container shipping crisis, and the power crisis across Asia and Europe.”

Improved machine handling

Special focus of Sollich‘s research and development activities will be on optimising the customer‘s production process. Sollich achieves this by ensuring that its machines are easily available and are easy to handle. To meet increasing hygiene standards, Sollich KG sets high value on efficient, easy cleaning of the machines. Consequently, appropriate cleaning measures for the diverse product range will be introduced at the show. An absolute novelty is the wheel-out heat exchanger in the Thermo-Flow cooling tunnel segment. This function allows the operator an easy and thorough cleaning of the heat exchanger. The mobile belt washing unit with integrated hygiene washing drum guarantees practical handling when cleaning the conveyor belt and additionally ensures that no foreign particles can get onto the products during the cleaning process.

The Turbotemper

For chocolate pre-crystallisation, Sollich KG offers a complementary cleaning device to allow an easy and quick mass changeover for machines used for chocolate pre-crystallisation. This flexible mobile cleaning device can be applied within the production site for different tempering machines with a throughput of up to 3600 kg/h. Sollich KG provides effective cleaning through its ‘Clean -in -Place’ system for its Enromat enrobing machines. Besides a mobile washing station and additional accessories all machines are constructed in such a way that they comply with stringent hygiene requirements.

SweetConnect

In conjunction with the ‘Fast Lane’ remote maintenance system, data from the application process is transmitted to optimise services and increase machine availability. Referring to ‘ Artificial Intelligence’ Sollich will for the first time introduce an approach to self-analysis of their tempering machines. In the future the self-analysis of the machine shall be combined with an automatic adjustment of the temperature values to reduce human working capacity. Further improvements in research and development have been made in the scope of digitalisation regarding the information exchange between machine operator and Sollich KG. Together with other leading suppliers of confectionery machines, Sollich KG has founded SweetConnect GmbH. On this platform, users can at a glance manage all their integrated production machines. Documents such as operating instructions, spare parts catalogue and cross-manufacturer maintenance managers are some of the basic functions to increase the quality of the tempered chocolate.

The Sollich Tempergraph

A further solution to improve the quality of chocolate during the handling process is represented by the Sollich Tempergraph. This device allows automatic measuring of the degree of temper in the chocolate. The Tempergraph can also be installed within the enrobing machine. In this constellation an adequate determination of the tempering degree can be achieved – namely directly before enrobing. The equipment features at each machine have been increased and contribute to an improved quality. This also includes, for example, the dew point display within the cooling tunnel. This instrument helps to prevent errors when cooling down products and, thus, ensures perfect product quality after the cooling process.

The new Miniconbar

To produce bar products Sollich KG will present the new Miniconbar system. With this version of the Conbar line Sollich has adapted to the demand in the bar product industry for smaller production capacities. With this alternative Sollich KG aims to meet customers individual needs. The same applies to the production of sandwich products. In this segment Sollich KG will exhibit the Sollcocap sandwich system. Furthermore, Sollich KG will present a new solution for tempering and aerating of masses with ingredients and/or flavours. All interested parties are warmly invited to have a look at these novelties when visiting the Sollich booth. As a highlight, there will be a ‘Heritage’ area at the Sollich KG booth. The company proudly showcases its successful history of more than 100 years, starting as a small enterprise and has grown to be an industry leader today. Therefore, visitors also have the chance to compare some older machines against the current offerings to see the huge development Sollich KG has made during the past century. Together with its sister company Chocotech GmbH, Sollich KG offers its customers a chance to obtain the entire manufacturing process through its one-stop-shopping offering. In this way machines for the complete process including cooking, forming and enrobing are on offer. •

As modelled in the CSIR’s recent Waste Research Development and Innovation Roadmap Report (November 2022), achieving the EPR targets has the potential to mitigate 14% of greenhouse gas emissions between 2023 and 2040 (compared to business-as-usual projections), due to the partial replacement of virgin plastic with recycled plastics. The report also notes that mechanical recycling processes in South Africa favour rigid, mono-materials from a technical perspective. In practice, however, increased recycling also requires a heightened demand from manufacturers to include more recycled plastic in large-scale end-use applications that have a high rate of churn, such as packaging, to truly make an impact.

More work needs to be done

According to Plastics SA (2021) plastic products in general in South Africa contain an average of 16.7% recycled content. However, rigid packaging contains only 12% recycled content, which is low, especially compared to 27% for flexible packaging. Whilst food grade post-consumer recyclate (PCR) is not yet widely available, there exists a multitude of quick win opportunities for PCR inclusion in large-format, rigid plastic packaging for non-food applications. Growing PCR content in rigid packaging requires cross-industry stakeholder collaboration on a mammoth scale. It cannot be achieved by convertors or recyclers alone. •

Stabilisation in beverages

The taste of beverages is influenced by smell, taste and in particular mouthfeel. As mouthfeel is highly influenced by the texture of a beverage, changes of the texture can also alter the perception between tasty or not tasty. When using stabilisers in beverages, there often comes viscosity which influences the texture. Creating dairy-based beverages is particularly sensitive as the texture of milk and potential sugar is quite rich already. Adding additional viscosity can be perceived as too creamy and unpleasant. Still, the addition of stabilisers is required to satisfy the consumers’ demand for stable and homogeneous products.

Stabilising dairy products without imparting the texture

For the stabilisation of dairy beverages, such as chocolate milks, a stabiliser is needed which does not add additional viscosity. For such applications, high acyl gellan gum is an excellent choice when used at concentrations as low as about 0.03%. This ingredient does not stabilise through an increase of viscosity. The mechanism can rather be explained by a fluid gel network. Here, the polysaccharide chains of high acyl gellan gum interact to form a gel network when the fluid is at rest. This network efficiently stops the particles in the system from settling. When agitating the fluid, for example during pouring or drinking, the network breaks down, not adding viscosity to the texture perception. The fluid gel network recovers once the system is at rest again. High acyl gellan gum does also fit perfectly into the processing of typical dairy beverages as it needs an activation temperature of about 85°C. This is easily achieved during the processing of dairy beverages, such as UHT treatments. Being manufactured by fermentation of glucose syrup, high acyl gellan gum is also a label friendly, bio-based hydrocolloid. Jungbunzlauer’s TayaGel HA-D is specially developed for dairy applications, allowing perfect stabilisation without adulteration from off-tastes. With TayaGel HA grades from Jungbunzlauer, Savannah helps you to stabilise your dairy beverages and beyond.

Staying true to purpose

Established in 1990, Savannah retains its start-up philosophy by staying true to purpose. We offer a value-driven ingredients package that improves the lives of our customers through being constructive, synergistic, and well implemented. Trusting us with your raw material requirements allows you more time elsewhere – and with time being so precious, how valuable is that? And the value extends further – into the areas of your business where the right ingredients can make the difference between ordinary and brilliant. The best ingredients at competitive prices, support systems that make sense for your business, and a proven product development capability that sets Savannah apart – an ideal partnership for ingredient success in an ever-tougher market. •

A novelty in the market

Currently, the sleeve label hub offers the thinnest stretch sleeve on the market – the sleeve has a thickness of only 30 micron. It was especially designed for returnable one litre PET bottles that are typically used in the German mineral water market. “This extremely thin stretch sleeve was developed with sustainability in mind. With 30 micron the sleeve is a lot thinner than the ‘standard’ 45-micron sleeves that are usually used. This accounts for efficiency on the material side – a lot less raw material is needed to manufacture this sleeve and thus it helps reduce the carbon footprint of the product,” says Thorsten Umek, product manager at CCL Voelkermarkt. “We calculated that beverage brands can save up to 32 tonnes of plastic material per 100 million sleeves – which is approximately the weight of over five adult African elephants.”

Reducing carbon footprint

Stretch Sleeves technology itself has several sustainability advantages. They are made from mono-PE (polypropylene) material that has a high degree of elasticity. This means that no adhesives and no heat is necessary to apply the sleeve to the bottle or other container – it attaches itself and stays in place with the help of its own elasticity. On top of that it is possible to integrate different percentages of recycled content into stretch sleeves from several sources – including Post-Consumer Recyclate (PCR) material. “Stretch Sleeves have been a popular decoration technology for the German mineral water industry that traditionally has been a returnable scheme. Typically re-usable one litre bottles made from rigid PET and increasingly rPET are used – which already is a very sustainable system itself. Now the bottle can have an even lower environmental footprint by combining it with the super thin stretch sleeves that we have just launched”, explains Stefan Schaeffert, business development manager at CCL Label. The main application is returnable one litre PET bottles commonly used in the mineral water market. •

The new line includes an automatic bottle-feeding table, bottle inverter with Ozone purging, automatic 12 head progressive cavity filler, rotary capping machine, sleeve labelling machine, double sided self-adhesive label applicator and an automatic shrink wrapper with tray inserter.

“Prior to expansion of the new facility, production levels were around 30 bottles per minute. The new facility and equipment have taken our capacity up to 80 bottles per minute on the one litre line and we can now accommodate demand from our loyal customer base. Further good news is that in the future, we plan to increase capacity even further,’ says Jared Fagri, the company’s managing director. “We have invested in our new production site, and this serves as one way in which we can confirm our determination to continue to serve the food industry.”

Driving growth

The expansion project started in June 2022 and required Sauce Land to build a completely new bottling plant. The entire project was self-managed, and several different suppliers were used to complete it.

The bottling facility alone consists of some 900m2 of purpose-built factory space. The factory was built to meet the stringent standards of FSSC 22000.

All the new filling, capping, labelling and shrink wrap equipment was supplied and installed by Gauteng-based IJP Filling and Labelling. These lines are versatile inline filling equipment and has been designed to cope with the demand for various bottle sizes and various sauces with different viscosities.

The company is particularly proud of its newly designed double lane 12 head progressive cavity filling machine. The unit offers the choice to run a single lane for smaller batches or both lanes for the larger batches at high filling accuracies.

IJP Filling and Labelling has re-engineered the filler to cope with customer’s needs of higher production outputs on high viscosity products with the added benefit of quick change over times without the need for change parts between different bottle sizes. This installation is the first order that the company has been awarded for the newly designed equipment.

“We believe that our local manufactured packaging equipment offers great value for your money with the added benefit of local support,” says IJP’s owner, Leon van Wyk.

The need for affordable quality sauces continues to grow at a rapid rate in Southern Africa. “Although the market for sauces has been huge for many years, the market for affordable high-quality sauces has really only seen enormous growth over the past ten years,” Fagri points out. “The products have a relatively small profit margin, therefore, to keep up with the demand, the way to go was to completely automate facilities.’”

Various sauces are produced by the company. These are highly regarded and well established in the marketplace and are becoming rapidly available.

“When we started with our manufacturing expansion plan, we were looking for a local, quality equipment supplier with whom we could form a partnership,” Fagri explains. “The scope also included good backup service, as well as the right price. IJP Filling & Labelling met the criteria.

“We like to be able to pick up the phone, and talk to someone on the supplier’s side, regardless of the time of day. This is how we run our business, and it is refreshing to find a supplier with a similar mindset,” he concludes.

Sauce Land was established in 2004, and is based in Randburg, Gauteng. The company also distributes to most neighbouring countries. •

A quick solution to a complicated system

Only one measurement, which usually takes less than 30 seconds, can simultaneously answer several analytical questions. FT-NIR offers a practical alternative to the time-consuming, wet chemical methods and chromatographic techniques. It is non-destructive and requires no sample preparation.

How does it work?

FT-NIR spectroscopy simply measures the absorption of near-infrared light of the sample at different wavelengths. The recorded NIR spectrum is characterised by overtones and combinations of the fundamental molecular vibrations of molecules containing C-H, N-H or O-H groups. Therefore, NIR spectroscopy is first choice for the analysis of organic materials in the food and beverage industry. Also, the sample pre-treatment is eliminated, which saves a lot of work and eliminates a common source of error. From the high information content of the spectra, several parameters can be determined simultaneously. In the food sector, the most important parameters such as fat, protein, moisture / dry matter, lactose and even inorganic parameters like salt and the ash content can be analysed as well as many more specialised parameters.

Applications

Modern multi-purpose spectrometers combine different measurement techniques in one system and thus cover a wide range of applications in food analysis, including not only dairy, oil and meat applications but also flour and milling, confectionary, condiments, and beverages. Dedicated sampling accessories can be adapted for any type of liquid, powdered, semi-solid or solid sample. This opens an array of applications, making FT-NIR a valuable tool for raw materials inspections in the warehouse, in process-control and final quality testing.

•  Raw Materials Identification:
Every organic material has a unique NIR spectrum – like a fingerprint. Therefore, NIR is widely used to test if a raw material is identical with the expected substance (identification) and if it meets its dedicated specifications (authentication).

•  Multi Component Quantitative Analysis:
The amount of light absorbed by the sample depends on the concentrations of its ingredients. Since the NIR spectrum contains the analytical information of every component simultaneously, the operator receives all quantitative information by collecting just one spectrum.

•  In-line Process Control:
With fibre optic probes, the point of analysis can be inserted directly into the reactor or container. Specific quality parameters can be controlled in real-time directly in the process, leading to shorter cycle times, better product quality and less out-of-spec batches.

Fast and easy analysis at low cost

Especially in comparison to wet chemical analysis, NIR offers practical as well as economic advantages:

•  No sample preparation required therefore, no waste

•  Simple sample presentation and handling

•  No typical user errors as with classic methods

•  Analysis of several components in less than a minute

•  Suitable for solid, semi-solid and liquid samples.

FT-NIR spectroscopy is a powerful tool for the food industry. The fast and reliable analysis results help to optimally control raw materials, production processes and finished products. It is the tool of the future and already replaces many of the slower, especially wet-chemical analytical methods. •

Positive food safety culture

Maintaining hygiene in the food processing environment is essential for food safety assurance. To ensure that hygiene is managed effectively, it is important to have an intentional and dedicated cleaning programme. When cleaning is done in a rushed or haphazard manner, it can compromise the safety of the food and damage the food safety culture. Implementing a comprehensive and consistent cleaning programme is therefore essential to protect the safety of the food and to maintain a positive food safety culture. To ensure adequate cleaning performance of food contact surfaces and processing equipment, acceptable limits must be established based on the potential hazards associated with the product or processing area. These limits can be determined through visual inspection, ATP bioluminescence, microbiological testing, allergen testing, or chemical testing. When the monitored results are outside of the acceptable limits, corrective action must be taken to bring the results back within the acceptable range.

Training and use of safety equipment

An effective training programme for cleaning should include information about the potential hazards associated with the product or surface being cleaned, as well as information about the effects of different cleaning chemicals and methods. Detailed instructions should be provided, including step-by-step instructions, pictures, and diagrams to illustrate any dismantling of equipment that may be necessary. Additionally, safety precautions should be outlined, such as the appropriate use of protective gloves, goggles, and any other necessary safety equipment.

All chemical, physical and taint contamination are required to be subjected to risk assessment in the hazard analysis.

The following rules apply:

•  Chemicals are only bought from approved suppliers

•  Only chemicals on the approved chemicals list are purchased

•  Cleaning chemicals are fit for purpose, suitably labelled, and used in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions

•  MSDS of all chemicals used will be kept on file

•  Production and cleaning chemicals are stored separately and securely

•  Care is taken not to use strongly scented chemicals

•  Relevant staff has been given chemical handling training.

Ensure cleaning equipment meets the necessary standards by:

•  Ensuring it is suitable for its purpose

•  Designed to meet hygiene requirements

•  Clearly identified color-coding and/or labelling

•  Stored in a manner that prevents contamination. •

MANE toolbox to manage new sensorial challenges

At MANE, one of our strengths is anticipating these changes and adapting our taste solutions to ever-increasing market specifications. Continuing our learning of local taste drivers across the continent, we realised the need to extend our learning regarding raw material changes. Our strategic development team is continuously enriching our knowledge of 150 years which is translated to local teams in practice. In essence, we utilise science to come to solutions for taste challenges and product adoption by consumers.

Consumer demand for value

The elasticity and priority of consumer demand for value can mean a combination of price, taste, trust, satiety, functionality, nutrition, as well as tradition, to name a few. Our consumer insights and taste knowledge verify that nutritious food is understood on every income level. Consumer purchase choices can be surprising when pockets are closed. Under the banner of taste and affordability, we have found in some countries the need for protein, carbohydrate satiety and trust heading the ranking. Other countries’ drivers of purchase include a nutritious tasty meal once a day with snacking during the rest of the day and in another functional drinks as in-between pseudo meals. There are many more examples but that consumers are very savvy in spending their food budget can never be overlooked. Flavour cannot be underestimated in the purchasing decision and re-purchase is directly related to the taste of the product as a primary driver.

Taste experience optimisation

Product formulations showing a need for optimised taste experiences, improved mouthfeel, increasing creaminess perception and masking undesired taste can be answered by our inhouse science-based toolbox for taste challenges called SENSE CAPTURE™. As an example, in a reduced fat recipe the need for mouthfeel and roundness can be obtained with the use of one of our cream taste solutions. Product formulations showing a need for optimised taste experiences, improved mouthfeel, increasing creaminess perception and masking undesired taste can be answered by our inhouse science-based toolbox for taste challenges called SENSE CAPTURE™. As an example, in a reduced fat recipe the need for mouthfeel and roundness can be obtained with the use of one of our cream taste solutions.

SENSE CAPTURE flavour solutions cover three broad areas created by new formulations:

•  MASK (bitterness, sweeteners’ after-taste, actives, off-notes)

•  BOOST (perceptions: creaminess, mouthfeel)

•  FEEL (sensations: cool, warm, mouth watering).

MANE flavour, masking, boosting and feeling solutions are developed on a tailor-made approach to target the specific undesired notes or tastes of each base. Therefore, ensuring the best profile to be combined with the specific base for optimal consumer taste experience.

Our African team constitutes a Research and Development compliment of over 20 food qualified experts in Accra, Ghana, Nairobi, Kenya, and Cape Town, South Africa. We are fully laboratory operational with an additional staff complement in creation, sensory, consumer insights and marketing teams and a global network to tap into. Additionally, we are proud to have several food technologists and scientists in our sales teams to support the seamless quality of customer need translated to our technical colleagues. •