GUEST COLUMN


eating is a trend that affects demand for potato chips and French fries. Many consumers, especially in North America and Western Europe, are choosing to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and support local growers. Innovative potato processors see the opportunity inherent in


this threat. New, healthier potato products are being developed – not new cuts and new shapes, but entirely new product categories. For example, one healthy alternative to French fries is a vacuum fried potato stick that tastes great and features less than half the fat of traditional fried potato strips. One healthy alternative to potato chips is a popped chip that is flash baked with a small amount of oil. Unlike most other baked chips that offer little flavour, these new flash-baked popped chips taste great and feature less than half the fat of traditional immersion- fried potato chips. Despite advances in fungicides, pesticides, and genetic


engineering, potato diseases remain difficult to control. ‘Late blight’ is a well-established problem and recently, ‘Zebra chip’ is spreading to new regions and is likely to pose a growing threat. The cause of Zebra chip is unknown; the pathogen is still


unidentified. Potatoes exposed to the pathogen develop dark lines after finish frying, which are essentially stripes of sugars and render products unsellable. Until recently, Zebra chip was confined to areas of Mexico and the southwest US where potato strip production is limited. The disease had primarily affected potato chip production. That situation is changing. We now see Zebra chip in New Zealand and northern US


regions in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, where huge potato crops are at risk. This northern migration of the pathogen could be the result of last year’s unusually warm winter or it could be climate change-related. Currently, potato growers in moderate climates where the


infection is new are applying pesticides to attempt to control the Zebra chip problem while hoping a cold winter helps win the fight. In warmer areas where the infection is more established,


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potato processors are taking additional precautions. At a minimum, optical sorters that are already running on


processing lines to inspect cut surfaces and remove defects and foreign material (FM) should be programmed to identify and remove chips or strips with Zebra chip. If this sorter is near the front of the line, the processor will remove objectionable product before investing all the resources to process it. If this sorter is near the end of the line, immediately prior to packaging, the processor can be confident that objectionable product is not being packaged. The drive to improve efficiencies is a never-ending pursuit to


increase equipment uptime and line throughput while increasing yields. Upgrading old technology often improves line efficiency. For lines already using the latest technology, the next level of efficiency improvements could come from adding sensors to the line and further integrating controls. Sensors can be developed to measure anything that an


operator can hear, see or touch, often with greater speed and accuracy. For example, sensors can alert an operator if a motor is beginning to overheat, before the motor fails, so corrective action can be taken to avoid unplanned downtime. Sensors can also monitor processes like fryers, sending a signal to an operator or automatically adjusting the fryer if out-of-tolerance conditions exist or if a trend toward producing out-of-tolerance product is detected. New sensors will start to control processes when the cost of the problem justifies the cost of the solution. Until then, a sorter, located near the end of the line, can be


used as a sensor, monitoring specific product quality characteristics, such as color. It can be programed to recognise trends and alert an operator or control upstream processes such as the blancher or the fryer before out-of-tolerance product is produced. Changing business conditions justify a break from tradition.


The best practice last year may not be the best practice next year. New threats arise and new solutions are developed. n


Potato Processing Int. Magazine - Digital Digest • www.potatobusiness.com 6­


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