A Walk-Through over Food Grade Lubricants
The unprecedental rise in population across the globe is perhaps driving the growth in food process, pharma- ceutical and other allied industries. Despite the preference for fresh food, a major portion of the consumed food in developed countries still remains processed and is therefore handled by machines. The scenario in developing countries is not much different either. In countries like India where the majority of the food consumed which once used to be fresh from the farm or dairy, there is growing trend to use more and more processed food due to increased globalisation, a paradigm shift in life style and other geo-economic reasons. Similarly, in Middle East countries such as UAE, Saudi Arabia, etc, where the majority of the food is imported and thus processed.
Unlike in the past, where food process industries were using regular mineral oil based lubricants, these industries are now gradually moving towards using more food grade lubricants. The demand for such lubricants and greases is rapidly increasing, due to growing consumer awareness, producers’ cost for product recall, consumer litigations and certain legislative compliances. Due to greater demand of variety of food and beverage by savvy consumers, the traditional mass food production model is rapidly moving towards producing more customised products. This means that machines need to operate more efficiently and effectively under more severe operating conditions but at the same time reducing downtime and increasing productivity.
8 LUBE MAGAZINE No .110 AUGUST 2012
Food Machinery Lubricants – Challenges Food grade lubricants are subjected to perform the same lubrication functions as for any other industry viz., protect against wear and friction, prevent rust and corrosion, stable against oxidation and thermal degradation, act as sealant, withstand shock/heavy loads and high temperatures, and should not run away in the presence of water or steam. In addition, different applications in the food industry demand that lubricant must resist degradation against food acids, juices, syrups, blood, chemicals, various salts, cleaners, sanitisers, and water or steam. These lubricants must also exhibit neutral behaviour towards plastics, elastomers, as well as be physiologically inert, tasteless, and odourless. Additionally, lubricant contamination in some industries might result in the serious risk of possible growth of microorganisms such as bacteria, yeast, fungi and even foul smell.
Lubricant leakage is an inevitable part of any industry, as lubricants do not discriminate against any material it comes in contact with and therefore the food processing industry has an additional challenge against food contamination. It is, therefore, essential for the manufacturers of such products to use the lubricants that are formulated using safe ingredients and are also approved by the appropriate certifying agency/organisation.
Approval and Compliances Historically, the Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS), a branch of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) used to provide approval for products for this industry and remained the industry practice for years.
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