Posted to News on 25th Jan 2024, 15:18
Hygiene-focused machine modifications for Avondale Foods
Adelphi has worked with Avondale Foods to modify machinery for the manufacture of oat drinks and oat lattes. The machinery needed to play its part in ensuring that every drop of product reaching consumers maintains the highest standards of purity and safety.
Avondale Foods (Craigavon) was founded in 1965 by Harry and Derek Geddis. The brothers started in business growing vegetables at their family farm for distribution to local markets and retail outlets.
As Avondale Foods expanded, produce was outsourced to local growers while the company focused on product development. In the late 1970s, Avondale Foods became the first company in Northern Ireland to manufacture coleslaw and quickly became one of the leading suppliers of coleslaw in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
To this day, Avondale Foods remains a family company with the founding members still involved in the day- to-day running of the business. The second generation of the family have also key roles within the senior management team.
Hygiene is paramount
Preventing mould and microorganism growth in oat drink and oat latte filling machinery is of utmost importance for several crucial reasons:
Food safety: Mould and harmful microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, can contaminate these drinks, leading to foodborne illnesses if consumed. Ensuring the machinery remains free from these contaminants is essential for safeguarding public health.
Compliance with regulations: Food safety regulations and standards mandate the prevention of contamination in dairy products. Oat drinks producers must adhere to these regulations to operate legally and maintain the trust of consumers and regulatory authorities.
Prolonged shelf life: Mould and microorganism growth can accelerate spoilage, significantly reducing the drink's shelf life. By preventing their presence in filling machinery, oat drink producers can extend the product's freshness, reducing waste and ensuring consumers receive high-quality products.
Maintaining product quality: Microorganisms can alter the taste, texture and nutritional composition of these oat drinks. Preventing their growth ensures that the drinks retain their intended flavour and nutritional value, meeting consumers' expectations and industry standards.
Avoiding cross-contamination: In a manufacturing environment where multiple products might be processed, preventing mould and microorganism growth helps in avoiding cross-contamination. This is crucial, especially in facilities where various dairy products are produced, preventing unwanted flavours or substances in the final product.
It was with all of these reasons in mind, that Adelphi Masterfil developed hygiene-focused machine modifications, tailored specifically for a custom filling and capping line for Avondale.
The line incorporated an S1200-A Multifil automatic filling machine, and a Mastercap automatic screw capper. The customer also invested in a S5000-S twin head semi- automatic filling machine with similar hygienic features, as insurance against any downtime with the planned maintenance schedule together with product development projects which could be carried out on a smaller scale.
Grill style laser-cut stainless steel machine covers were used as an alternative to plastic or glass, which would be damaged by the aggressive cleaning chemicals used in the company's fastidious cleaning process. LED illuminated lighting built into the filler ensure operators can still visually oversee the filling process.
All welded product contact parts were passivated, to slow down or eliminate the corrosion which can occur when cleaning chemical containing chlorides react with free iron on the surface of the metal.
Preventing dust or particulates from entering the milk was also an essential factor for consideration. Conveyor covers were added to prevent things dropping in from above, with an angled design to avoid dripping from condensation.
Product building up on or in the machine needed to be avoided entirely. A custom wash-bath was added for the conveyor slats, to prevent any product build-up there, whilst recessed cylinders were specified to provide a thorough cleaning/flushing of any deposits which may form on the underside/around the piston seals. Spray balls thoroughly wash the interior walls of the product tank, meaning that from one shift or production run to the next, no historic product will remain. Nozzle scabbards enable cleaning of both the inside and outside of the filling nozzles, connecting to a single point drain manifold which can in turn be connected either to a CIP return system, or directly to a drain.
A collaborative approach
Adelphi Masterfil's team collaborated with Avondale throughout, to ensure the machine's CIP (clean-in- place) functionality would connect with the Avondale site's SCADA system. This included a series of handshake signals between the filler and SCADA system to control the customer's pumps and valves and feedback diagnostics.
This was successfully installed and tested, through a combination of Adelphi engineers on-site and remotely via a EWON COSY Industrial LAN router modem fitted to the filler.
Both Adelphi and Avondale pride themselves on their commitment to excellence. To this end, Adelphi partnered with Roxtec to incorporate glands and IP66 rated electrical cabinets (higher than the typical IP30 rated components). IP66 rating states that the cabinets are dust tight' and protected against heavy seas or powerful jets of water', which will enable cables to run in and out of the cabinets, whilst withstanding the customer's vigorous cleaning process.
Food grade pushbuttons, indicators and selector switches from Schmersal were utilised. These offer the highest protection class of IP69K and have been designed specifically to be used in applications where hygiene is paramount.
Other machine adaptations specific to the dairy industry included the use of 1200ml cylinders instead of the standard 1L or 5L cylinders, to enable filling up to the dairy industry frequent fill of 1136ml volume (2 pints). And visual inspection and swab testing were carried out after a test run of the CIP process during the Site Acceptance Test (SAT), to verify the cleanliness.
The meticulous prevention of mould and micro-organism growth in oat drink and oat latte processing machinery stands as a cornerstone of responsible and high-quality production. The modifications on the machinery contribute to a safe, high-quality and sustainable production process. Avondale can now uphold its stringent quality controls, ensuring that each carton or bottle of drink reaching households is a testament to uncompromised quality and safety.
