Hygienic magnetic separation

Claire Rowan is group technical editor, magazines, FoodBev Media. This is a personal blog and views expressed are her own.

A more sanitary approach to magnetic separation for quality control was the focus of activity on the Goudsmit stand, where Koen Boeggemann talked me through the gleaming stainless steel devices presented.

For milk powder a completely redesigned sanitary rotating system can provide the hygienic properties required in a dairy processing plant. It can capture not only the ferro magnetic pieces passing through the product stream but also tiny fragments of stainless that when they are small in size become magnetic. The device prevents any damage to equipment by particles of metal further down the line and improves the quality of products such as light-coloured sausages that would otherwise feature unsightly flecks of metal that turn black on oxidising.

Although metal removal depends on the medium, the Goudsmit rotating system can detect and remove stainless steel in particular up to 1-2mm in dimension.

Further developments on the stand will be featured in the article on Quality Control in the next issue of Food & Beverage International. So don’t miss your copy.

Now back to the halls…