News reports of food contamination in restaurants, supermarkets, and food processing plants are leading food makers to place a higher priority on food safety, sanitation, and cleanliness.
The food industry's efforts to maintain the integrity of the food supply and allay consumer concerns will drive the overall market for cleaning and sanitising chemicals used in food processing to nearly $1bnin the US, in 2005, according to a research report by the Kline Group. The growth will continue at a steady and measured pace over the next five years, the firm forecasts.
One such firm muscling in on the sector is Systemate Numafa. The company says it has completed a study that will allow food processors to determine bacterial kill rates and the type of technology they need for cleaning crates, lids, pallets and baking trays.
The company's research project studied the impact of heat, time, pressure and cleaning fluid concentrations on the destruction of micro-organisms. Following 2,000 individual tests, the Numafa created a database of all the parameters involved in an effective cleaning process, for all food types.
Numafa sells high speed washing and drying systems and hopes to market the equipment using the data. Numafa has released a stand-alone washer, the UKW, which is equipped to handle ham molds,buckets, totes and accessories.
The UKW can be customized to wash a combination of equipment and has a carousel design, allowing it to be operated by one person. It has a capacity up to 600 units per hour and can be designed forhigher speeds.
Numafa said it recently developed a new automated system for Euro Pool System in the Netherlands, which cleans crates for thefruit and vegetable sector. In the past the company handled the folding crates manually. Numafa's automated system can handle the folding crates at a rate of 2,000 per hour.