Top Editors ... Innovations at IFFA

Title: Innovations at IFFA
Date: 17/09/2007
Autor: By Maureen Byrne

IFFA once again proved itself to be an excellent event for companies involved in all aspects of meat production and packaging

From 5 to 10 May, Messe Frankfurt was the focal point for visitors to the IFFA exhibition, which this year was more successful than ever. Exhibitors were delighted with the quality and quantity of contacts made with professionals looking for innovations and solutions in the meat sector.
The fair occupied 120,000 m2 of floor space. There were 913 exhibitors, who welcomed 61,478 trade visitors, representing a 7% increase in numbers over the previous show in 2004, when 57,534 attended. After Germany, the top European visitor nations were Russia, Spain and Italy; and the leading overseas nations were the USA, Brazil, Australia and Japan.
The whole meat production spectrum was covered by exhibitors, including slaughtering, processing, packaging, ingredients, testing, control, and safety/hygiene equipment.
In the added value processing sector, there were some interesting innovations from Hoja. For low fat frying of a variety of meats, the company uses cast iron frying surfaces to give a ‘home made’ taste. Jörg Hoja explained: “Many companies use Teflon surfaces for frying, but that doesn’t give the taste of frying. Our machines can
run up to 300oC, which reduces frying loss (for some products down to 5%). The surface of the meat is seared to give a crisp crust and retain the juices so that it looks and tastes fried.”
The equipment is used by various manufacturers in Europe including R.F. Brakes in the UK for burgers, lamb, sausages etc; and it is also popular in Brazil, where it is used for steaks, meat cubes etc. Often, customers specify a griddled, ribbed appearance, and Hoja has a grooved pan that produces the characteristic bars that
give a barbecued appearance. Hoja’s latest development is a donar kebab line, which fully automated the production of a donar meat cone for supermarkets. “There is low frying loss, and it also burns away bacteria so it is very safe,” said Mr Hoja. The meat is cut and stacked, and then a tube is inserted in the middle before wrapping and sealing automatically. The system can produce up to two tonnes per hour of donar cones.

Joining forces
Townsend joined Stork Food Systems in 2006, adding five significant meat processing product lines to Stork’s existing range. At IFFA, several innovations were demonstrated, including skinners, trimmers, a coextrusion system that ‘dramatically reduces the cost of making sausages’, the RevoPortioner (a low pressure forming
machine), and the ValueDrum. The ValueDrum is an in-line and logistically controllable marinating system which reduces manual handling to a minimum. The system is geared to the required capacity, product types and desired additives with a consistent and high product quality discharge, according to Stork Townsend.
For freezing and cooling of food products, Linde Gas was present at the show with numerous solutions for a variety of applications. Slow freezing can damage food
products, so it is essential that the freezing process is carried out as quickly as possible.
Linde Gas supplies both the gases (for example, carbon dioxide and nitrogen) and the equipment to enable processors to freeze meat and other products quickly and safely.
The Cryoline DP from Linde was on the stand at IFFA. It is designed for instant chilling of perishables directly in their packing boxes. By adjusting the hood to varying box sizes and heights, Cryoline DP places the generated snow exactly into the box, avoiding losses of precious CO2.
The Cryoline MC is a crust freezer that is ideally suited to processing delicate and valuable foods. Quick-freezing hardens the surfaces of individualised foodstuffs and therefore avoids deformation and agglomeration when producing IQF (individually quick frozen) products. For difficult to handle products such as marinated tenderloin steaks, the Cryoline SC super contact freezer has been developed, which has a disposable foil belt. This enables changeover of products during the production cycle without the need for cleaning.

Packaging
Bioplastics made an appearance at the show, on the Inauen Maschinen stand. This Swiss company was showing its new PLA (polylactat) packaging, made from natural raw material that can be completely recycled. The packaging is ideal for fresh MAP products such as meat, fish, poultry, fruit, salad and vegetables. The company
also presented its latest production line for minced meat. The VC999-TS2500 sealing machine is designed so that no pollutants can enter the package interior from the natural PLA packaging.
Specialist flexible film manufacturer Südpack was also at IFFA, to explain its strategy for supplying the market with individual solutions that satisfy specific customer requirements. At the show, it announced a successful application for its new Multifol G-Plus. Handl Tyrol, manufacturer of Tyrolean air-dried meat specialities in Austria, chose the new film for its premium range of products. The company selected the film primarily because of the tear strength of the film.
Multifol G-Plus is a PA-based film of reduced thickness (300µ) which is suitable for frozen and pasteurised products, as well as Handl Tyrol’s air-dried specialities.
“Südpack has succeeded in producing a tremendous product with Multifol G-Plus,” said Christian Handl, director of Handl Tyrol. “It runs very well on our thermoforming machine, provides excellent transparency and is absolutely tear-resistant.”

Ingredients
Spices and seasonings are very important for many value-added meat products, and there were 80 exhibitors in the spices and additives sector of the show. Among them was Raps, which was showing its spice oil Magic Salsa, a new addition to the ‘Magic’ range. The company was also presenting its new Meat-Max Basic at IFFA or the first
time. This determines the juiciness of meat, improves the colour through the lactate and has a positive effect on the microbiology of meat, according to Raps.
French company CapDiana was also at IFFA to demonstrate its ‘CAProteins’, a range of functional meat-based proteins for the meat processing industry. CAProteins are claimed to have a higher moisture retention performance than any similar meat protein, with a gel ratio up to 1:30. Emulsification performance is also claimed
to be higher, at ratios up to 1:30:30. The two flagship products offered are CAPremium 95 for sausage emulsions; and CAProCure 95 for cured and cooked products such as ham, bacon, loins and highly extended ham analogues.
The meat and prepared food segment is one of Chr. Hansen’s many strongholds and covers meat solutions for safe and tasty products such as natural colours, flavours and cultures. The company was present at IFFA this year to discuss the many products it has to offer.
Bactoferm, for example, is a range of cultures that provides good performance in meat in relation to acidification, texture, colour and taste. With unique strains and carefully tested combinations, it is possible to fulfill the needs of meat processors all over the world.
The focus on food safety is very high, and now especially on fighting pathogenic bacteria with lactic acid starters. Chr. Hansen has developed a bioprotective culture range, SafePro, which is designed to help reduce the incidence or growth of pathogens and spoilage bacteria during processing, as well as protect the flavour
and colour attributes of the final food product. Bactoferm and SafePro are just two examples of the wide variety of natural solutions for the meat & prepared food industry.
To assist customers with product development, Chr. Hansen has regional Industry & Technology Centres to support regional market needs and national sales forces. The focus is on development, problem solving and working partnerships with customers.

Hygiene
Of course, safety and hygiene are of the utmost importance to any meat production operation, and a number of companies were present at the show to demonstrate new safety systems and services.
SterilAir from Switzerland, for example, was explaining its core business of air sterilisation, along with its now expanded range of applications including surface and packaging material disinfection. Highlights at the show were the improved T2002 belt disinfection equipment and the UVR 2250 ventilation concept. UVR was designed for
slicing, production, ripening and refrigeration rooms. Alternatively, it can replace, as a mobile unit, smoke disinfection after production is stopped.
Software developed by SterilAir is used to plan and simulate disinfection in air conditioning and ventilation systems. In special chambers, microorganisms are killed in an airflow by introducing the tubes directly into the centre of the air conditioning conduit. This ensures high disinfection rates at low energy input, according to SterilAir. An average 36W of UVC (short wave ultraviolet light) is needed for 500m3 per hour at a tube lifetime of 12,000 hours operating time. For meat processing, SterliAir uses double coated thermo tubes which emit high UVC rates even at temperatures below 0oC and at air flow rates up to 4 metres per second.

The next IFFA exhibition will be held in Frankfurt in 2010.