Fortress Phantom series metal detection systems use powerful digital signal processing (DSP) to provide fast, accurate detection of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, and stainless steel. Phantom metal detectors are very rugged with a certified IP69K rating on stainless steel units. In addition, a complete all-in-one integrated conveyor solution, the Fortress Vector series of conveyors optimizes the overall system performance. Fortress Technology provides customizable metal detection solutions for food safety, quality assurance and HACCP compliance.

Fortress Technology Inc.: (416) 754-2898, or visit www.fortresstechnology.com

Conveyor Belt

ExactaStack, Ashworth’s exact drop-in replacement for existing self-stacking spirals, is now also available with its Advantage plastic overlay. Because Advantage is easy to clean, it is the market’s only plastic spiral belt that is USDA-accepted for meat and poultry. The combination of ExactaStack and Advantage makes it the market’s first and only self-stacking spiral belt with plastic overlay providing a suitable solution for existing sticky product applications. Advantage has also been proven by ETL Laboratories to have the greatest open area of all plastic spiral modular belting making it a perfect solution for vertical air-flow patterns in self-stacking spirals. ExactaStack is available in all OEM’s widths, tier heights, and mesh configurations for both spliced-in sections and complete belt replacements. No system drive modifications are required.

Ashworth Bros. Inc.: (800) 682-4594, or visit www.ashworth.com

Wire Belt’s newest conveyor belt CompactGrid is hygienically designed to protect food products, especially from deadly pathogens like Salmonella. The USDA-accepted CompactGrid is made of stainless steel with 70 percent open area, eliminating places for harmful contaminants to hide. CompactGrid is specifically designed to replace heavier balanced weave belts and hard to clean plastic modular belts. Wire Belt’s entire line of Flat-Flex belting products and CompactGrid are accepted by the USDA NSF/ANSI/3-A hygiene standards.

Wire Belt: (603) 644-2500, or visit www.wirebelt.com 

Packaging Film

Berry Plastics has introduced Clear-seal Films, a family of coextruded or laminated, high-barrier roll stock films for retail, club store and bulk foodservice further processed meats such as lunchmeats, sausages, franks, bacon, jerky, pepperoni, and poultry products. The films serve a number of retail food service and deli cheese applications including specialty, crumbles, loaves, logs, and cheese balls; along with single-serve, multi-pack string, and snack cheeses. Available as forming and non-forming webs, Clear-seal films deliver exceptional clarity and can be reverse-printed in up to 10 colors. Clear-seal films easy-open, peelable feature can be incorporated into many kinds of packages. Throughout the rigors of distribution and handling, Clear-seal films combine excellent abrasion and puncture resistance.

Berry Plastics Corp.: (812) 306-2000, or visit www.berryplastics.com

Motor

Sew-Eurodrive, a global supplier of drive automation solutions, has released the new DR motor modular system, offering customers a single series with millions of drive combinations. The motor is specifically optimized for food and beverage plant operations with severe washdown, packaging and/or freezing applications. In these harsh environments, special coating options, both inside and out, and special seals keep harsh chemicals from entering and damaging the motor. The compact size, dynamic design and a multitude of feedback options allows the motor to be easily integrated with modern electronic drive systems. Additionally, metal fans, strip heaters and specially designed brake control modules are ideal for -40° freezer applications. The DR motor series allows the user to select the options needed to handle the application at hand.

Sew-Eurodrive : (864) 439-8792, or visit www.seweurodrive.com

Freezing System

Tippmann Group has developed a new alternative to traditional blast freezing which will save users up to 50 percent on their utilities and labor associated with blast freezing. The patent pending QFR Zone (Quick Freeze Racking Zone) handles blast freezing needs completely differently than a traditional blast freezer. The system uses open racking in the main freezer portion of a warehouse, eliminating the need for a dedicated room for blast freezing. The QFR Zone pulls air through the pallet spacers and product, rather than blowing air around the pallets in a small room. This ensures that all cases are frozen at the same speed. The improved airflow also allows us to run the refrigeration system at a higher, more efficient temperature.

Tippmann Group: (260) 490-3000, or visit www.tippmanngroup.com

Tray Sealer

The compact Ishida QX tray sealer has one-button changeovers that make the sealer ideal for flexible production of deli meats, fresh and frozen meat and poultry, soups, vegetables, and multi-compartment meals. The tray sealer can be integrated with up to five fillers. Ishida’s user-friendly touch screen control stores all operating configurations for each filler and tray. Ishida’s Intelligent Tool function automatically recognizes the correct tooling for each product preset for fast, accurate changeovers. In addition, tool redundancy allows individual sealing heads to be switched off without reducing production speeds. Models are available for medium speed manual loading or fully automated sealing of up to 200 trays per minute. MAP functions include gas flushing, vacuum-gassing, or seal-only operation. Redundant cutting and heating tools assure minimal downtime.

Heat And Control Inc.: (800) 227-5980, or visit www.heatandcontrol.com

Hand Wash

Lite’n Foamy Industrial Hand Wash from Spartan Chemical Co. is translucent red in color and has a mild, clean fragrance. Lite’n Foamy Industrial Hand Wash was formulated to be used with Spartan’s Lite’n Foamy Dispensers, and is now available in a foaming gallon pump. The foaming gallon jug pump eliminates the need for a wall-mounted dispenser. The hand soap can be taken anywhere, or it can be set on a counter. Each case of Lite’n Foamy Industrial Hand Wash gallons comes packaged with this new pump inside, and it can be used with any Spartan Lite’n Foamy product. Enriched with moisturizers, it is mild to the skin efficiently cleaning without leaving hands dry and cracked even after numerous washes.

Spartan Chemical Co. Inc.: (800) 537-8990, or visit www.spartanchemical.com

Face Masks

The Flavorseal brand from CMS offers disposable, nonwoven face masks designed to be worn by workers exposed to cold or flu viruses to help prevent their spreading the virus to coworkers or customers. The masks are composed of three layers, with the middle layer having a BFE (bacterial filtration efficiency) of 99.9% for airborne particles. The outer layer is durable nonwoven polypropylene, while the blue inner layer is softer and designed to “breathe” for comfortable protection. They feature soft elastic ear loops for easy on and off, holding the mask in place without catching on hair or skin. The bendable nosepiece conveniently conforms to the wearer’s face for a closer, more individual fit.

Carroll Manufacturing & Sales: (866) 769-1500, or visit www.cmsflavorseal.com

Bin Washer

Douglas Machines offer the Model BW-1000 bin washer. At the push of a button, the Model BW-1000 lifts and inverts bulk ingredient containers into the wash/rinse chamber, cleans the inside and the outside and then returns them to the floor. This machine was developed to conserve water, energy and labor while reducing the incidence of injury.

Douglas Machines Inc.: (800) 331-6870, or visit www.dougmac.com

Industry News

Along with the conversion to recyclable boxes, Mountaire Farms is transitioning its entire product line to modified atmosphere packaging. The introduction of newly designed recyclable boxes combined with the elimination of ice packed poultry could save more than 100,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, millions of gallons of water, and improve efficiency and streamline operations. Additionally, restaurateurs and grocers will enjoy cost savings through avoided disposal fees, making this innovation a win-win for businesses and the environment.

North Star Foods Inc., a protein processer serving the industrial, retail and foodservice sectors, and Quantum Foods LLC, one of the world’s largest and most technologically advanced food processors, announced that they will combine operations into a single food company. The move combines two successful and uniquely compatible companies into a single organization — Quantum Foods — now capable of offering an even more diverse line of custom menu solutions for national and regional chains, including full-service and quick-service restaurants. “We will be able to harness the unparalleled industry knowledge, technologies and expertise within these two organizations to fully benefit the customer,” said Edward Bleka, Quantum Foods founder, president & CEO. “This combination represents a very bold step as we seek sustainable long-term growth and the ability to deliver the best products and service possible,” he added. “We also believe this move will accelerate the capabilities of Quantum Foods’ new products development and it will significantly differentiate us in the marketplace.” “Combining both companies will enable us to immediately address our total customer needs and offer unique custom menus with a broad array of multi-protein options,” said Patrick Thesing, vice president, North Star Foods and its co-owner. In April 2009 a fire completely destroyed its meat and poultry processing plant in southeastern Minnesota resulting in the loss of 250 jobs. Quantum Foods has been one of several companies helping to serve North Star Foods customers since the fire.

Townsend Specialty Foods, the Atlanta foodservice business unit of Delaware-based Townsends Inc., announced the opening of its Innovation Center north of Atlanta. The new facility provides Townsend Specialty Foods the flexibility to create distinctive products and adapt quickly to consumer trends while working hand-in-hand with key foodservice customers to achieve their specific poultry product objectives.

“We are bringing innovation to the table,” said Townsend CEO Tom Weisser. “In today’s fast-changing market, savvy new product development is more important than ever. The emphasis of our new Innovation Center is on customer-driven product development and solutions that will help Townsend’s foodservice customers stay ahead of the trends.”

Panorama Meats Inc., a Vina, Calif.-based producer of organic grass-fed beef, has promoted Lori Carrion to chief operating officer and Wayne Langston to vice president, production. Previously Panorama’s vice president, sales, Carrion will manage the sales, distribution, quality assurance and production departments at Panorama. She also monitors company compliance with the USDA National Organic Program. In his expanded role, longtime Panorama production manager Langston will manage the recruiting of ranchers for Panorama’s organic grass-fed beef program and oversee rancher compliance with Panorama’s cattle-raising protocols.

Association News

The 2010 RPA Board Members are: Robert Zachrich, vice president, sales and marketing, The Fabri-Form Co.; Pete Budney, vice president, marketing, ORBIS Corp.; Phil Davis, senior perishables supply chain manager, The Kroger Co.; Chris MacGrory, marketing manager, Reusable Packaging IPL Inc.; Lewis Taffer, chief marketing officer, iGPS; Tim Smith, vice president business development, CHEP USA; Jim Vangelos, CEO, Polymer Logistics (US); Mike Hachtman, senior vice president of business development, IFCO Systems N.A.; Eric Frank, general manager, RPC LLC, Georgia Pacific; and Robert Engle, president, North America, Schoeller Arca Systems Inc.

Supplier News

“Growing global demand for processed foods, a large installed base of equipment, and a meaningful replacement parts business made this an attractive opportunity for us,” said Thomas S. Bagley, senior managing director, Pfingsten Partners. “We hope to leverage the company’s strong brand image with Pfingsten’s global capabilities to build an international manufacturer of niche food equipment and replacement parts spanning a broad range of food applications.”

Bettcher Industries announced that Rolf Laager has joined the company as international sales manager. In this position, Laager will be responsible for sales and market development functions for the Bettcher product line in Europe, including managing distributor relationships in various European countries. Laager joins Bettcher Industries from Hoegger AG, an international manufacturer of meat and bacon presses where he was general manager of the company’s U.S. operations in Vermont. In the European region, Bettcher has established distributor partnerships over the past several years in Russia and the Balkans, as well as in the Baltic republics.

Multivac Inc. has announced it is currently developing a team of customer Support representatives (CSR’s) to be located across the country. These professionals will provide an additional measure of sales and service follow-up and customer care in close coordination with the team of sales managers already based in each territory. Multivac has begun recruiting seasoned candidates with industry experience for these new positions on a nationwide basis.

Mariano Gascon, vice president of research and development for Wixon Inc., will discuss how to mask off-notes and enhance sweetness with flavor modifiers for stevia on Thursday, Feb. 25, at the Stevia World Americas conference. Held at the W Atlanta Midtown Hotel, the conference will examine how to advance stevia’s position as a mainstream sweetener while improving its taste profile and ensuring the reliability of quality and supply. Gascon will detail stevia vis-à-vis sugar and other high-intensity sweeteners, describe the silver lining of flavor modifiers, and present a tasting session. As vice president of research and development, Gascon directs product and food technology developments through Wixon’s staff of food technologists, flavorists, and research professionals.

Lohmann Animal Health International is introducing its line of feed specialties and additives in the United States. With its complete selection of vaccines, Lohmann Animal Health International adds to its portfolio of animal health products with feed specialties and additives. These products include pigments, flavors, liquid vitamins, botanicals, organic acids and a matrix protected zinc oxide.

“We have decades of feed additive manufacturing and distribution expertise from within the LAH European sector,” said Tim Hopson, country manager, North America. “We are bringing that experience and proficiency to the NAFTA market. Our U.S. division will supply a wide range of quality feed additives and specialties. In addition, we will be able to provide our feed specialty customers with the technical knowledge and service our poultry vaccine customers have come to expect.”

Elanco, a division of Eli Lilly and Co., announced that it will launch a new business platform focused on food safety. Elanco will market food-safety products and services to the food-animal industry through Elanco Food Solutions. Elanco will develop new technologies that will help the food chain protect consumers from such harmful foodborne pathogens as E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella and Listeria.

“Consumers have high expectations for their food to be safe, so Elanco Food Solutions is providing technologies to reduce food-borne pathogens in packing and processing plants,” said K. Douglas Miller, PhD, director of Elanco Food Solutions. “We realize there is no single ‘silver-bullet’ solution, which is why we will deliver multiple pre- and post-harvest interventions for beef, poultry and pork packers and processors that are part of a total pathogen-control system for the meat and poultry industries.”

In addition to providing multiple food-safety technologies for its customers, Elanco Food Solutions also will offer its customers the Food Safety Knowledge Solutions™ program, a unique benchmarking system that uses statistical process control (SPC) methodology to help packers and processors effectively manage their pathogen-control systems. It is available exclusively for Elanco Food Solutions customers.

John Kuhnz has been promoted to marketing director for Dorner Mfg. Corp. In his new role, Kuhnz will oversee all of the company’s marketing and advertising initiatives that support its conveyor platforms. He will also coordinate new product research and development functions for industrial and sanitary markets, as well as lead the company’s public relations, Internet and trade show activities. Kuhnz joined Dorner in April 2006 as the food marketing manager, where he led the growth and development of the company’s AquaPruf platform.