Food Manufacturing
Cleanliness practices are critically important in the food manufacturing business. Regardless of how good your food product is, if your food manufacturing equipment and premises are not clean, customers won’t flock to your establishment.
In the past few years, cleaning methods have changed in the food manufacturing industry. Traditional tools such as scrubbing brushes, hoses and rags are no longer ideal fit. After all, these outdated methods are not competent enough to prevent bacteria build-up and cross-contamination.
Fortunately, the use of ultraviolet light has proven quite effective in minimising the possibilities of contamination as it eliminates bacteria, chemicals, mould and gases like Ethylene. Australian UV Mercury Vapor Ultraviolet lamp produces natural-like UV light that destroys biological pollutants and eliminates odours.
In the food manufacturing industry, UV lamps or equipment have been used for the following purposes:
Food Production Equipment Sterilisation
Along with food, hygiene of food production equipment is a high stakes consideration in the food manufacturing industry. It is not only about business risk, but also involves a myriad of legal obligations.
Besides this, negligence to equipment cleanliness can lead to bacteria build-up, and cross-contamination. And if your food products get contaminated with bacteria, it can hurt your brand’s reputation too.
Therefore, keep all your food production equipment contaminant free. Machines like packaging lines, refrigerator, conveyor lines, and metal detectors are more likely to get contaminated easily. Well, you can clean them using a UV system that has turned into a standard cleaning method in food processing facilities nowadays.
Ultraviolet radiation coming from a UV system kills or deactivates the growth of microorganisms. In this process, a short-wavelength of UV-C is thrown on bacteria that destroys their nucleic acids and disrupts their DNA.
Disinfection of air
The quality of air inside a food manufacturing unit plays a huge role in the quality of food is processing. If neglected, poor air quality and humidity can compromise the grade of food products and health of staff working there.
The UV light is effectual on most microorganism and moulds that are responsible for spoiling air quality. For disinfection of air, UVC equipment are mounted parallel to the airflow so that it can kill bio-chemical contaminants like mould, bacteria, and viruses as much as possible. Ultraviolet lamp system also helps in neutralising unpleasant odours.
Disinfection of Water
Similar to air quality, maintaining water quality is equally important in a food manufacturing unit. And UVC equipment is quite helpful in it as well. UV disinfection system combats microbial contamination in water by penetrating microorganism and their DNA. Since DNA plays a significant role in reproduction, therefore, destroying it UV light prevents the organism from being multiplying.
UV lamps produce the same energy (wavelength of 240-280nm) as produced by the natural UV.
Advantages of UV Disinfection System
- Ultraviolet light is nature’s way of purification.
- It is environment-friendly as no toxins are produced during the disinfection of water.
- It is one of the affordable disinfection systems available today.
Packaging Material Sterilisation
Hygienic packaging is essential to maintain the quality of packaged food. Like food, packaging materials can be infected by microorganisms that might lead to food spoilage. Consequently, food production businesses must pay attention to their packaging material too.
UV germicidal irradiation is an economical and environment-friendly way to sterilise packaging material. UVC equipment are specifically designed for the disinfection of packaging and surfaces of sealing and filling machines. These equipment help in killing viruses, fungus, and bacteria spread around the packages. Sterilisation also boosts the shelf life of packaged foods.
Mould and Organic Matter Elimination
Mould is a serious issue in food manufacturing units. When these bacterias expose to water and other factors, they start growing and cause a myriad of health risks.
It is observed, in most food processing units, the staff relies on warm water and bleach to eliminate mould. Unfortunately, it does not remove all moulds. In such a situation, UV-C lamps can be quite useful as they remove fungus and their spores too.
Like mould, organic matter is a primary concern of most food-manufacturing companies. Ultraviolet rays turn organic matter into gas and vapour by fragmenting chemical bonds.
Extend the life of Freezing Coils, Refrigeration Equipment and Drain Pans
The efficiency of the HVAC system is quite important in a food manufacturing unit. After all, it provides the atmosphere required for food products to stay healthy and fresh so that they are safe and tasteful.
UV-C light not only kills and deactivates microorganisms but also extends the life of the HVAC systems. UVC eliminates the need for frequent maintenance of the HVAC system by preventing the bacteria build up on the surface of the HVAC system’s coils and ducts. UV-C light can be part of your solutions to keep the freezing coils, refrigeration equipment, drain pans and other equipment clean and running for a long time. Moreover, you also save time and resources that you are going to spend on the cleaning of these machines.