How blue components enhance safety in food processing
Foodstuffs are naturally diverse. They come in a rich variety of both taste and colour: red tomatoes, green lettuce, yellow lemons, orange carrots, purple plums, pink meat – nearly all the colours are represented. Bright blue is very rare, however. The food processing industry embraces this feature and uses it for the safe manufacture of foodstuffs.Blue plant components stand out in contrast to virtually every foodstuff. This makes it easier for manufacturers to carry out visual checks for impurities
High production volumes go hand in hand with high quality in the food industry. Operators would like to increase the useful life of their production facilities and improve safety for consumers. Designers are faced with the challenge of developing systems that are both reliable and secure even under high loads.
Safe and efficient materials are essential to do all this. The EU Regulation 10/2011/EU and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stipulate whether or not a material is suitable for direct contact with food and can therefore be used in system design. Materials must not change the composition, taste, aroma and appearance of the food or contaminate the food with foreign objects. In addition to these statutory requirements, more and more manufacturers are improving the safety of their systems by selecting specific colours for their machine components
Visual monitoring
Increasing use is being made of blue components, which stand out in contrast to virtually every foodstuff. This makes it easier for manufacturers to carry out visual checks for impurities during visual inspections, manufacturers look directly at the production line to see whether there are any impurities in their food. The easier it is to find any potential impurities, the safer the production. Should a fragment of a machine component get into the production line in an extreme case, then the blue colour will stand out against virtually every foodstuff. Designers and manufacturers thus increase safety by deliberately choosing this colour.
Röchling offers the food industry a wide range of plastics for direct contact with food, which meet strict statutory requirements. Many of these materials are also available in blue.
A selection of proven products for the food processing industry is now available to you in blue straight from stock.
Stock products
SUSTARIN C FG Blue (RAL 5002) | ||
Sheet | 620x3000 mm 620x2000 mm | s 10, 12, 15, 20, 16, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50, 60, 70, 100 mm |
Round rod | 3000 mm 1000 mm | Ø 20, 25, 40, 50, 60, 80, 90, 100, 120, 150, 170, 200 mm |
SUSTARIN C FG Blue has already undergone successful testing in compliance with the new Regulation 2016/1416, which supplements 10/2011/EU and applies with effect from September 2017.
SUSTAPEEK GLD 140 FG Blue (RAL 5005) | ||
Round rods | 1000 mm | Ø 20 mm |
Polystone® M Blue (RAL 5005) | ||
Sheet | 2000x1000 mm | s 10, 15, 20, 30, 40 mm |
Round rods | 2000 mm | Ø 60, 80, 100, 130, 160, 200 mm |
Foamlite® P FG Blue (RAL 5010) | ||
Sheet | 3000x1500 mm | s 10 mm |
Contact
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you wish to know more about the properties and possible applications of our materials for food contact: