A new range of baby food rice starch is now available worldwide and ideal for use in fruit and vegetable based jars. Following in-depth assessment of production processes, including extensive testing, BENEO’s baby food rice starch meets and exceeds industry and regulatory requirements. The new product range also offers a wide range of nutritional and technical benefits to manufacturers. The naturally sourced texturizer qualifies for hypoallergenic, clean label, organic, as well as non-GMO products. Test trials have shown that vegetable and fruit jars with BENEO’s baby food rice starch have improved product stability in terms of viscosity, syneresis control and shelf-life. In addition, the ingredient’s small particle size creates a creamy texture without any effect on the end product’s taste or colour. Rice is furthermore highly digestible and consequently interesting for baby food applications.

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The range extends from the automation of inverter-controlled dough mixer applications to increasing the effectiveness of the overall system (Overall Equipment Effectiveness, OEE) up to production-enhancing robot technology. For example, using the MES-IT interface module, continuous communication can be realized simply even in a heterogeneous, historically grown application structure – a so-called “brownfield” production plant – by interconnecting island solutions. Fully in line with Industry 4.0, the module acquires production data and test results at each stage of production and transmits them in real time to higher-level systems. These enable the systems to produce clear, meaningful evaluations by using Excel, SAP or pre-prepared reports. The link to existing systems can be established quickly without interrupting machine sequences. Preventive maintenance is a big issue in the food industry. If a machine fails without prior warning, the complete batch normally has to be disposed of. Flexible maintenance and service concepts like FAG SmartCheck or the life-cycle software tool MAPS offer a remedy. FAG SmartCheck, for example, detects and reports the first vibrations in a drive long before any noise is emitted. As a result, the reaction time up to machine failure is considerably greater and the maintenance cycle can be adapted to production at a suitably early stage. To increase plant flexibility and availability, it often makes sense to use robots. If several products are manufactured, packaged or removed on one line, the timing can be configured to be significantly faster and more cost-efficient by using space-saving robots and camera systems. At the same time the high hygiene standards of the food industry are met. The fully integrated automation concept iQ Platform ultimately combines all components up to robot control on one single platform and ensures seamless communication within the plant.
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cooking systems
A new series of cooking systems to handle every kind of sugar confectionery is being launched by Baker Perkins. Proven, unique cooking process technologies are at the heart of the AutoCook concept, backed by modular units configured to provide an efficient, automatic solution for a wide range of outputs. The cooking method depends on process and product requirements. The choice includes the Microfilm swept surface cooker, regarded as the industry standard for sugar and sugar-free high boiled and hard candies, including those with milk and cream; the Turbofilm plate pack cooking system ideal for jelly products;  the Carablend for toffee and caramel; and a dedicated fondant cooker. Cookers are integrated with skid mounted systems for weighing and mixing, dissolving, pre-cooking and colour and flavour addition. The systems are designed for easy installation, maximum efficiency and minimal cleaning and maintenance. Controls can be either stand alone or integrated with upstream and downstream systems.     
AutoCook systems cover the full range of syrup based confectionery including hard candy, lollipops, toffee, fondants, fudge, jellies and fruit snacks. A system can be configured to make a variety of products – both soft and hard candies, for example. The systems can feed most types of confectionery forming techniques, including starchless depositing, die forming, slab forming, extrusion, cut and wrap, and starch mogul processes.  

Baker Perkins
Peterborough, Cambridge, UK
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tna’s inserter is designed to automatically place singular 3D objects into tna’s robag 3 vertical form, fill and seal (VFFS) packaging equipment, completely eliminating missed inserts and manual labor. Operation is simple. The operator selects a set up a program on the system’s existing touch key pad to run the tna robag 3 with inserters. tna’s inserter system is so accurate, it offers 0% missed inserts, and reduces the number of multiple inserts dramatically at inserting speeds of 100 bpm, doubling manual speeds 40-50 bpm.
Inserts are fed into an 80L hopper in a bulk or loose state where they are then vibrated on demand into the tna inserter’s rotary vibrating bowl. tna core products offer a range of robag stand-alone and turn-key systems that are renowned in the industry for bagging speed capabilities, efficiency and overall performance. The robag VFFS system has experienced much success in the snack, confectionery, biscuit, cereal, pasta, powder and fresh produce markets, and can form pillow, block bottom, quattro, string and canoe bags.
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Automated high throughput LC-MS solution
An innovative LC-MS system with high resolution and accurate mass, the EQuan MAX enables new screening and quantitative capabilities that provide enhanced system flexibility and productivity. The instrument uses the power of the Exactive LC-MS, a high resolution benchtop LC-MS system powered by Oribtrap technology, designed for high throughput. In addition, the EQuan MAX can be used with the company’s full range of TSQ series triple stage quadrupole mass spectrometers, providing a comprehensive solution for the analysis of pesticides, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, endocrine disruptors and perfluorinated compounds in environmental water, drinking water and beverages. Samples are directly injected for LC/MS analysis, eliminating the need for off-line sample preconcentration. The unique online sample preparation technique reduces analysis time from days to minutes. The large injection volume (1-20mL) improves detection limits over conventional LC-MS analysis. In addition, the EQuan MAX supports injection volumes as low as 1µL. Switching between injection volumes can be automated for overnight operation and increased productivity, without the need to manually change plumbing configurations.

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