We Love Our Food & Drink
February 20, 2017
With the start of another New Year, it’s made me think about all of those resolutions that will undoubtedly last five minutes. If you’re anything like me, most of these resolutions are probably related to how much we are going to (or are going to try not to) eat and drink.
No matter how much we attempt to avoid overeating, food & drink manufacturing is big business. In fact, it’s worth over £21.9bn to the UK economy – almost the same as the automotive and aerospace industries combined.
Food and drink manufacturing usually takes place in factories of varying sizes, ranging from small units with just a few workers to huge factories, which are often part of multi-site organisations. Comprising of over 30 different sectors, the largest sector is the bakery sector, followed by meat processing, drinks industries and dairies.
When I started reading up about this sector, it didn’t surprise me that dehum has so much involvement within it. As demand increases, food & beverage manufacturers are under increased pressure to produce better quality products, at a faster rate, if they are going to stay on top of their game and one step ahead of their competitors.
You may be surprised to read that high humidity can often play hovoc within food & drink production. This little devil is not only really hard to detect (as its virtually invisible) but it’s often overlooked as the reason why production is being affected or even halted.
A few issues are mentioned below:
- BREAD – within the bakery sector, misshapen loafs are a big problem, often caused by unwanted high humidity levels during the cooling process. The use of dehumidification equipment at this stage will ensure that the bread doesn’t end up in the bin; instead a perfect loaf is produced every time.
- DRIED FRUIT – there’s nothing more annoying then pouring out your cereal and a clump of dried fruit falls into your bowl. Keeping the humidity at an optimum level during production, will stop this little annoyance from occurring.
- CHILLED DRINKS – when condensation worms its way in, chilled drinks bottles are at risk from labels slipping or peeling off, causing huge problems at the processing plant. The installation of appropriate dehumidifiers will keep labels in place.
- CONFECTIONERY – the combination of humidity and sugar can often leave confectionery manufacturers in a sticky mess. From pan coating chocolate to stove drying jelly and foam sweets, the cutting edge solutions and equipment dehum provide are a necessity in any confectionery manufacturing plant.
- MEAT CURING – bacon, salami and other meat products all go through this process and creating the perfect environment, in which to cure meat, is difficult but essential. If the humidity level is too low, the outside of the meat will dry out too quickly and moisture will become trapped inside, leading to spoilage. Too high and the meat will not dry properly, leading to mould and fungus developing. The removal of too much water could also result in the end product being underweight. The installation of bespoke, specialist equipment is the answer, in order to achieve the prefect drying environment.
dehum has extensive experience within this field and has been behind some truly exciting and innovative new technologies, which have virtually eliminated many of the issues that uncontrolled humidity can cause.
