PET Food Processing - September 2019 - 54

EQUIPMENT

"If you can't maintain
control and precise
cutting of the pet
loaf at the filling
station, you will have
contamination issues."
Sam Troiano, Packaging Technologies & Inspection

Consistent clean cuts
eliminate food strings
and the contamination issues they pose
when filling and
sealing cups, trays
and pouches.
Packaging Technologies & Inspection

54

The seal of a cup, tray or pouch can be compromised
if a filler does not make a clean break between product
portions. Regardless of the type of pet food, well-engineered equipment should be able to deposit each portion cleanly. "If not," Troiano says, "what the industry
refers to as 'food strings' drip the food product on the lip
or rim of the cup or tray and subject the sealing process
to defects, or poor seal characteristics."
Thorough equipment sanitation is also important
for reliable performance. "Proper cleaning is vital to
the longevity, performance and speed of pouch filling
and sealing machines and should be cleaned by using
low-pressure water or compressed air," suggests Billie
Johnson, Ph.D., BLJ Consulting, Emporia, Kansas.
"Some manufacturers may recommend an iodinebased sanitizer for use after manual hand-washing of

PET FOOD PROCESSING | September 2019 | www.petfoodprocessing.net

filling machine parts not cleaned by the CIP process."
"In some ways, pet owner concerns about hygiene
and food safety are way ahead of regulatory regimes, so
many processors are evaluating how new hygienic designs and processing safety features on equipment best
fit with their own standards and needs," McGady says.
McGady provides a few tips for maintaining food
safety standards in filling and depositing applications.
"Automatic monitoring of feed system temperatures and
pressures is critical to ensuring food safety standards in
real time during processing. Hygienic equipment designs pay huge dividends by helping to ensure thorough
cleanups and simpler, speedier changeovers," he says.
"Automation removes many operation variables that affect food safety, including human/product contact." 

Filling solutions

To combat food strings, PTI's Waldner brand developed
the Wisk-A-Nozzle, a rotary cutoff nozzle designed specifically for "dripless filling" that results in a clean seal
to mitigate contamination issues. This nozzle is part of
Waldner's DOSOMAT, which can be used in cup, tray
or pouch applications and operates at 95% Overall
Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). It also offers fill-weight
accuracy and assurance that pet foods will retain texture
and moisture throughout the filling process. 
Handtmann offers many auxiliary filling and depositing solutions for pet food applications. One is the SV424
Cutting Valve, which is optimal for manufacturers portioning large-piece products without a casing or clipper.
"It is an automatic turnkey solution that replaces manual
portioning," McGady explains.
The Handtmann DS 551 Depositing Station is a multi-
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PET Food Processing - September 2019

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