October 2019 | Food Engineering

The State of Food Manufacturing

2019 State of Food Manufacturing Survey

Food Engineering’s annual survey of the industry shows efficiency is top of mind for food and beverage processors

October 7, 2019

Since 2014, respondents to Food Engineering’s annual State of Food Manufacturing survey have ranked automation as the No. 1 trend affecting the industry—until this year.

Food Safety

Food processors must be proactive in sanitary and hygienic design

Sharon Spielman

October 14, 2019

The operator is responsible to the public for safe food manufacturing.

Tech Update

PLCs and controllers are being used as intelligent gateways to IIoT

Wayne Labs

October 16, 2019

PLCs/PACs are the unseen workhorses in our processes and material handling/packaging equipment today.

Navigating immigration policy is a challenge as food processors seek employees

Rose Shilling

October 18, 2019

Hiring immigrants to help fill worker shortages at American food factories is fraught with pitfalls.

Engineering R&D

DNA-based solution tracks fruit, produce, oils, grains

Wayne Labs

October 16, 2019

SafeTraces Inc. was recently granted a U.S. patent which discloses a ground-breaking method for encoding and decoding digital information to and from DNA strands drawn from seaweed.

Dry Processing

Tortilla maker ensures quality and safety with new metal detectors

Sharon Spielman

October 18, 2019

To support its double-digit growth over the past few years, Arevalo installed three METTLER TOLEDO Safeline Profile Advantage metal detectors to help protect its final product quality.

Editor's Note

Annual survey of the industry is mostly good news, but some worries lurk

Casey Laughman

October 14, 2019

Both throughput and budgets are generally increasing, which means the industry is growing and companies are investing in hardware and software to help manage that growth.

Manufacturing News

EPA's stance on glyphosate may affect legal, regulatory outcomes

Wayne Labs

October 16, 2019

The glyphosate (aka Roundup) carcinogen controversy isn’t over yet, but the EPA’s stance on direct exposure may affect regulatory and legal outcomes on residual exposure in foods.

Regulatory Watch

Seafood guidance updated

Sharon Spielman

October 14, 2019

New chapters and sections of the Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance, including the updated 21 CFR Part 123—Fish and Fishery Products, were updated by the FDA in August.

Regulatory Watch

Guidance released for converting vitamin units

Sharon Spielman

October 16, 2019

FDA has released a guidance document that provides step-by-step instructions to manufacturers of retail food products marketed in the U.S. on how they may convert the previous units of measure for certain nutrients on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Label to the new units in the updated Nutrition Facts label.

Food Packaging

Orb bottles will now be allowed on planes

Rose Shilling

October 7, 2019

After many sarcastic tweets from the public, the TSA reconsidered its ban on souvenir Coke bottles from Disney’s new Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge.

Food Packaging

Color-changing ink to check HPP packaging

Rose Shilling

October 14, 2019

A specialty ink company is offering a new version of its color-changing technology to detect individual packages that failed during high pressure processing.

Food Packaging

Dog food maker puts your pup's photo on treat pouches

Rose Shilling

October 14, 2019

We all know personalization and custom batches are trends for people food, but they’re for pets too.

People & Industry News

People and Industry News: October 2019

October 18, 2019

Announcements about new hires, staff promotions, association news, awards, mergers and acquisitions.

Plant Openings

Plant Openings & Expansions: October 2019

October 7, 2019

Announcements about new food and beverage plant construction projects, plant renovations and plant expansions.

Dry Processing Technology

Inspira ACP-700 snack food case packer

October 18, 2019

Inspira VFFS bag maker and ACP-700 automatic case packer offer integrated and automated packaging room solutions for the snack industry.

Dry Processing Technology

Continuous dense phase convey systems

Built to last for up to 30 years, the containers come in an array of designs.

New Plant Products

Munson's Model RDC-1530-SS standalone lump breaker

October 15, 2019

Model RDC-1530-SS is designed to de-lump bulk materials that have agglomerated or solidified during storage or shipment, returning products to their original particle sizes and flowability.

On Demand Kelley Rodriguez, Editor in Chief of Refrigerated & Frozen Foods, will be joined in this 60-minute webinar by industry experts to help unpack the latest research.

On Demand Driven by climate goals, business risk, client interest, and resilience considerations, food and beverage companies are increasingly turning their attention to decarbonizing their production processes.