The number of recall actions in the food industry increases from year to year. According to the online early warning system of the European Commission RASFF (Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed) there were more than 800 foodstuff recalls in the EU in 2017 alone. There are various reasons for this. Alongside harmful ingredients or the improper declaration of allergens, foreign bodies also play a role. These could be swarf created by wear for example or fragments, which have become detached from components within the processing machines. Owing to the machine-intensive processing which they undergo, poultry, meat, baked and confectionery products are particularly affected.

Increased use of blue parts

To further improve the protection of consumers, plant operators in the food industry are making greater use of blue plastic components across the entire plant. The goal is to improve protection against contamination from foreign bodies, in addition to efficient cleaning controls, since food residues or mould spores are more visible against a blue background. As a consequence, it is not only components which come into direct contact with foodstuffs that are now coloured blue, but peripheral components too. This requires a large range of dimensions for the blue materials used.

Expansion of the storage programme SUSTARIN® C FG

For many years Röchling has an extensive portfolio of blue Food Grade products in stock. The material SUSTARIN® C FG Blue (POM-C) is particularly well-suited for use in food processing machinery and plants thanks to its high dimensional stability and wear resistance as well as its good resistance to cleaning agents. With these properties, SUSTARIN® C is particularly used for components which are exposed to high pressure loads and must retain their shape when exposed to higher temperatures.

SUSTARIN® C FG fulfils the requirements of the directives 1935/2004/EC, 10/2011/EU and 2023/2006/EC and the Food and Drug Administration (USA).

The product range has now been expanded to include:

• calendered sheets in thicknesses from 3 to 12 mm
• tubes with an outer diameter of up to 450 mm and a wall thickness of 100 mm.

With that Röchling meets the more stringent requirements on the diversity of component dimensions and larger sized components.

Larger dimensions for economical production

Tubes with very large inner and outer diameters are used in the baking industry for example. A leading manufacturer of industrial baking technology had their larger sized chamber drums for making bread rolls made entirely from the Röchling material SUSTARIN® C FG Blue. Tube with dimensions close to those of the finished part, measuring 400 x 280 mm (outer/inner diameter) was used, whereby the material replacement optimised the component and enabled its economical production.