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The global awareness of food safety rises, what does this mean for the packaging industry?

The global awareness of food safety rises, what does this mean for the packaging industry?

16 August 2019

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the estimated annual number of illnesses transmitted through food in the United States is 47.8 million people. The cause of this health risk? Unhygienic practices!

Governments around the globe are acting swiftly to modernize their legalization. From the United States to China, authorities have a strong interest in ensuring food products are safe and comply with food safety regulations. This sounds great, but for the industry, it means a challenge to minimize the risk of "unwanted" bacterial growth.

As small as bacteria are, unwanted bacterial growth can disrupt a complete business. For example, it causes a tremendous amount of work to get rid of the bacteria and a massive amount of money because of all the products which cannot be sold. Not to mention, it can also damage your brand image. As the power in the food industry becomes customer-centric due to modern media, a single food-related illness can explode to extreme measures for your brand identity.

Therefore it is crucial to make sure food products are safe and comply to food safety regulations. It is important to minimize the contact between the product and machinery and to make sure the machinery is easy to clean.

With Vertical Form, Fill and Seal packaging machinery (VFFS) you minimize the risk of illnesses that could be transmitted through machinery. The reason behind this decreasing risk is because of a minimization of the contact between the product and the machine. In a VFFS machine, the product falls through a forming set in a one-side-open perfectly sealed pouch. Thereafter the pouch is properly sealed to ensure food safety.

The packaging industry knows two standards of hygienic machinery: washdown and wipe down. The meanings of these standards are explained below:

√ Washdown: machinery that’s made for high-pressure cleaning with water and/or chemicals,
depending on the used materials on the machine.

√ Wipe down: this machinery is made for dry cleaning with wipes and suits for areas that
need to stay dry.

Due to new food regulation standards, consequential changes are made to the design of VFFS machines. By using water-proof materials with round corners instead of straight ones, and precise cable management, cleaning is easy and makes sure the machine is hygienic.

UVA Packaging's latest development is a new washdown machine. This machine is designed with a closed-concept principle. The electric and mechanical components are in closed compartments to meet the highest hygienic standards. This means not only less contact with possible bacteria, but it is also easy to clean due to smooth surfaces.

Experience the difference with the hygienic VFFS machines of UVA Packaging. As a change maker, they want to challenge the status quo to meet the highest hygienic standards in the industry.

Find out more about safety regulations in the food industry through the links below.

https://www.food.gov.uk/
https://www.brcgs.com/
https://www.ehedg.org/
https://www.usda.gov/
https://www.fda.gov/

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