Food & Beverage

In the food production industry, product contamination by microorganisms such as bacteria or fungi presents a potential and omnipotent risk. It is therefore important to prevent any type of contamination and to facilitate its removal. The public’s access to multimedia also makes it more sensitive to the importance of hygienic design. This is why more and more facility and machine builders […]

Like other produce companies (growers, re-packers, and distributors), Buona Foods needed to address the requirements associated with the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI). At the same time, they required a system that would communicate and exchange information (Purchase Orders & Sales Orders) with their QuickBooks Enterprise (QBE) Accounting Software. Being a leader in their industry, Buona Foods made the decision to invest in SG Systems’ Traceability and PTI-compliant Labeling System. The easy-to-use system also utilizes a QBE plug-in that allows data to be exchanged between the QuickBooks and SG databases without human interaction.

Along America’s Gulf Coast, from Gulf Shores, Ala., to Layfayette, La., you will find locations for regional supermarket chain, Rouses Food Market. From its beginnings, Rouses has prided itself on providing customers with local fare such as Louisiana grass-fed beef, Chappapeela pork, Mississippi Lamb, Boudin and Andouille sausages, and locally grown fruits and vegetables. With more than 50 stores in three states, Rouses shares […]

Tracking boxes, crates, and bags of product is important to most businesses. Nowhere is it more important than in the currency business. Fairbanks Scales was approached by a leading armored car business with the problem of labeling and tracking bags of money. The request: “Help us label and record bags of currency, from pennies to paper, so that we can […]

The cost for hand-harvesting operations has steadily increased over the years without regard to the delivered-in price that growers receive. Growers spend more money on harvesting operations than for all other production costs combined, including fertilizers, sprays, irrigation and weed control. This cost squeeze, created by increasing costs and a constant or decreasing price for […]

• 3,000 deaths • 1 in every 6 Americans get sick (that’s 48 million people) • 128,000 hospitalizations These yearly estimates are provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in reference to the foodborne illnesses in the Unites States. The unfortunate part is that they were all preventable and, to make matters worse, a recent study […]

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Texture analyzers are routinely used for determining the hardness and consistency of various pet food products.

The TA1 texture analyzer and NEXYGENPlus food texture applications software can assess product quality on a wide range of food items including dairy products, bakery, confectionery, gels and more.

By combining the TA1 texture analyzer with our grips and fixtures for packaging testing you can perform tests such as tension, carton erection, friction, puncture and top loading.

Toughness of cooked meat, firmness, cutting strength and rapid slice shear force are just a few of the test types you can perform when combining the TA1 texture analyzer with our food grips and fixtures for meat, poultry and fish.

Gels are widely used in the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries.

Firmness of whole fruits/vegetables and extrusion properties of soft fruits, peas, beans, corn and processed fruit/vegetables are just a few of the test types you can perform when combining the TA1 texture analyzer with our food grips and fixtures for fruit and vegetables.

Consistency, gel strength, spreadability, tensile strength, extensibility, viscosity, creep, relaxation, cutting resistance, firmness and hardness of cheese, yoghurt, butter, sauces and ice cream are just a few of the test types you can perform by combining the TA1 texture analyzer with our food grips, fixtures, jigs and probes for dairy.

Lipstick bending and cutting force, penetration test, consistency and eye pencil breaking are just a few of the test types you can perform when combining the TA1 texture analyzer with our grips and fixtures for cosmetics testing.

Firmness, hardness, gumminess, fracturability, stickiness, springiness, flexural strength and tensile strength are just a few of the test types you can perform with our food grips and fixtures for confectionary and snacks.

Firmness, hardness, crispiness, chewiness, flexural strength and shear are just a few of the test types that you can perform with our food grips and fixtures for cereals.

Ametek Test & Calibration Instruments has long supplied the baking industry with advanced testing solutions to ensure end-product quality on the consumer shelf. The TA1 is the latest texture analyzer to offer affordable, high performance testing whether in Quality Control or product development.

Tilcon owns and operates dozens of quarries, asphalt and recycling plants, water terminals, and highway construction divisions, in New York and New Jersey.  At the Mount Hope Quarry alone they weigh hundreds of trucks on a busy day. Advance Scale Company, Inc., Rockaway, N.J., has installed Automated Ticketing Systems (ATS) on the truck scales to […]

Grain fields in eastern Illinois and Wisconsin stretch as far as the horizon in all directions. Towering clusters of bins and elevators pinpoint the super-sized grain facilities at rail stops and small towns. All is quiet—until harvest when the grain dust hits the wind. For years, grain terminal operators have invested in safety equipment and […]

Even before a seed is planted, farmers invest a great deal of time and effort to ensure it develops into a healthy crop. Equipment must be purchased. Land must be secured. The ground must be tilled. Weather must be correctly predicted.  Once planted, the seed must be meticulously cared for and nourished for months until […]

It can be quiet in Wisconsin’s farm country, with July’s mid-day sun forcing every living creature to shade and shelter,  and only the occasional buzzing fly or swish of a tail to cut the silence. But when Wisconsin’s Farm Technology Days came to Outagamie County in July of 2012 things were far from quiet. In […]

A world-renowned fruit company uses Rice Lake scales throughout their production facilities to deliver superior products and business development. There is something special about Wenatchee, Washington. The Columbia River rushes like a vein through the charming small town, cutting an impressive valley into the surrounding snow-capped mountains. The sudden elevation change and abundant fresh water […]

The Customer – ConAgra Foods, Morrell, Ohio location The Challenge -Replacing a previous scale in a gravel pit location. The Solution – Brechbuhler Scales’ Mansfield, Ohio branch led the project. Working directly with ConAgra Foods to design a scale to fit the existing location, the turn-key project was completed from start to finish by BSI […]

B-TEK Scales fabricated a full size livestock scale, equipped with forklift channels for portability. Each door has a latch closure and the ability to install a padlock. The epoxy finish is great for the agricultural environment. The Clients- Columbus, Ohio BSI branch client The Challenge -A large livestock scale with pass through doors and ability […]

To measure the eating quality of meat, the Scottish Agricultural College uses the TA1 texture analyzer from Lloyd Instruments. Uniformity and enhancement of meat eating quality is seen as an important factor in the sustainability of the Scottish (and UK) red-meat sector, in securing increased high-end market share locally and internationally. A number of factors affect meat […]

Uniformity and enhancement of meat eating quality is seen as an important factor in the sustainability of the Scottish (and UK) red-meat sector, in securing increased high-end market share locally and internationally. A number of factors affect meat eating qualities, both in terms of the way the animals are reared and at the processing stage […]

Batching systems, whether manual or automated, are everywhere. Compounding liquid solutions or blending powdered components into a final mixture is one of the most common industrial weighing applications.   Read more about multi-component batching here.

When selecting a supplier to fulfill your testing, calibration or measurement needs, you need to be sure that they can supply you with accurate and reliable results.  Whilst a laboratory can reassure you that they are technically competent, or you can attempt to evaluate the service yourself, neither provides you with confidence that you have […]

In the past force measurement generally meant obtaining a peak load measurement on a product, part or material to verify or validate that the product or part could exceed or withstand a specified load. Force measurement was generally accepted as a fairly innocuous test performed in the lab or on the production floor. Material testing, […]

Force measurement is used in many differing types of applications and may be accomplished with devices utilizing differing technologies. Typical applications include measurements of tension and data and/or compression and are directed at capturing properties such as strength of a material, component or a bond. Read more about force measurement here.

Businesses are turning to the Internet for a wide variety of purchases, including scales. Although convenient and sometimes less expensive, online purchases can be misleading. Knowing exactly what is being purchased from the Internet is essential— especially if the scale is going to be used in buying, selling or shipping applications. The scale may be […]

Single column force testers today represent the largest single market segment of the force testing marketplace for a number of reasons. Capacities now range from a couple of ounces up to 500 Lbf, with a few models offering capacities up to 1,000 Lbf. Read more about single column force testers here.

For several years, production in the food, beverage and tobacco industries has become increasingly automated. This is due to larger production volumes, increasing demands on quality and higher costs. However, even in a well-managed, automated and mechanized food, beverage and tobacco industry, contamination of end products during production cannot be completely ruled out. It’s possible […]

In order for a portable tank system to have high system accuracy, it must have a rigid foundation that does not flex or bow, regardless of external influences. Realistically speaking, no system is perfectly rigid, but a system that limits its amount of flex will increase its chances of having higher system accuracy. Portable tank […]

Our food texture analyzers are used widely by food scientists around the world for evaluating the textural properties of food products. Understanding the textural qualities of food products helps companies to develop new products as well as enhance and ensure the consistency of existing products. Food texture analysis is also important to evaluate the effects […]

Guinness World Record: The Shrimp Capital MAZATLÁN, MEXICO—Mazatlan prides itself on seafood, to say the least. The “Pearl of the Pacific,” as its nickname notes, sits on the country’s western coast and is renowned for its fishing industry. Residents have also taken to calling their city “El Capital de Camerón,” the Shrimp Capital, an unofficial […]

Whitecrest Mushrooms Ltd. Farm in rural Putnam, Ontario, has one of the most high-tech mushroom plants in the world — with a mushroom production total of two million pounds of brown mushrooms a year. Nevertheless, people still do the picking. It takes several months’ experience and a practiced eye to know when to pick a button […]

John Imparato, the proud and colorful owner of Giannella Modern Baking Company in Paterson, New Jersey, has one of those “bigger-than-life” personalities that makes meeting him an unforgettable experience. His bakery is famous for authentic Old World breads baked from recipes handed down through his family—recipes John wants kept secret. Marcelo Tise, engineer, inventor, and […]

Danone, also known as Dannon according to its U.S. subsidiary’s name, rethought its entire production process as it expected to achieve substantial improvement in its average weight control operations, i.e., checking the net content of its packages. This is a major area where considerable time and material can be saved. About Danone: Just shortly after […]

The farm will use this scale to expand seed business. A new B-TEK Centurion Hybrid steel deck analog truck scale was installed at a farm in Winchester, Indiana. The new scale might also weigh neighboring farm trucks as well.

The Clients – Warehouses, manufacturing facilities and all customers with portability needs The Challenge – To make a drum scale mobile with an attached ramp for easier drum loading and unloading The Solution – B-TEK Scales transforms a standard drum scale with a set of casters to make the scale mobile and attached indicator column and hinged […]

How do you weigh product accurately in a portable tank, vessel or reactor? With a specially designed  caster load cell! Read more about castor load cell systems here.

Seafood Company in Houston area had a bagging system with two Weightronix indicators that had custom programs in them. Scales were hooked up to a light tree to tell operator when the hopper was full of product (shrimp). Once full, hopper would automatically dump, spray a predetermined amount of water and tell the bagging system below it had a full bag and should seal and cut it. Unfortunately, the scales were unreliable, the program seemed to lock up or not show correct display, and the scales were not fast enough to keep up with bagging system and did not have the preferred output to bagger.

A fish farm was manually tracking how much feed was put into each individual pond and then recording that information into a database at a central office.  With over 100 ponds being used this manual system was very labor intensive and led to many errors on the hand written reports.