Human Food

Moisture Analysis for an Ever-Changing World

There are many challenges to today’s food manufacturing environments which necessitate a quick response in order to meet demand and to keep costs to a minimum without affecting product quality. The challenge then is to manufacture products at a lower cost without compromising taste, texture, cost, appearance, nutritional value or shelf life.

New products need to be brought to market fast in an increasingly competitive market while staying compliant with the multitude of government regulations regarding food safety.

New food processing technologies are continually being introduced by equipment manufacturers in order to make this job easier. Finna Sensors is an industry leader toward implementing state of the art on line Near Infrared (NIR) moisture analyzers that provide instant feedback to monitor and control this most important element. Meeting targeted product moisture levels contributes greatly to product taste, texture, color, density, packaging considerations and reduced labor costs associated with waste and rework.

Meeting Food Processing Demands

The main challenge then is to produce a safe and healthy product in large scale as fast as possible without excessive downtime nor a reduction in quality, all of which are important considerations toward company success and growing product lines.

When you’re looking for a partner in this endeavor that you can trust, we’re here to help. We have been contributing to this goal for almost 90 years. Our on line moisture analyzer measurement principles include NIR, RF, capacitance and power loss. These sensors can be applied to various industry conveying methods including belt, vibrating, screw, fluid bed, as well as pneumatics, mixers, and centrifuge.

Industry trends call for on the go foods, no or low salt formulations, trans or saturated fats, and continuing sugar and flavor substitutes that don’t detract from flavor considerations. These trends require real time moisture measurement instrumentation with the ability to adjust process variables with little or no operator interface.

Sensors That Cover it All

Since food products for human consumption span the gamut from dehydrated or dried foods to wet (canned) foods to raw products, the moisture levels vary from essentially 0% to over 90%. While on line moisture meters are not typically used for product over about 75% moisture content, they are however quite useful for all other moisture levels. Since the moisture level often contributes to product taste, texture, color, density, particle size, mold or fungi growth, meeting regulatory requirements, packaging considerations, and many others, real time moisture measurement is essential. Finna Sensors on line, non contact OMNIR infrared meter allows real time measurement of this critical variable to include output signals useful for dryer temperature control or product flow rate changes. Out of spec problems such as those mentioned above can thus be mitigated or alleviated all together with proper moisture monitoring and control. Consequently Finna Sensors allow manufacturing facilities to avoid product waste, recycle, downtime, cleanup costs, utility and labor costs associated with rework, all while contributing to customer loyalty and satisfaction.