Arising questions as to the food industry whether if there are dehumidifiers used in food packaging and processing.
Over the years, many food companies have turned to use dehumidifiers for a food processing area and packaging applications to improve the efficiency of other operations.
If you want to know more about dehumidifiers and foods, this article will give you insights.
Dehumidification in the Food Industry
Air humidity makes food a valuable quality factor. Controlling humidity assures a high standard of hygiene and presents a clean and fresh product.
Dehumidified food production processes to protect food quality and especially processing packaging foods. It can also give consumers a positive brand reputation when they provide consistently well-designed products.
Related Article: Application & Function of Dehumidifiers in Industrial Processes
Food Industry Humidity Control
The food industry has important roles in the business including temperature controls, condensation prevention, and speeding the drying process.
The new project is helping businesses understand what makes uncontrolled humidity dangerous in production capacity and offers solutions to reduce the effects it has on the environment in general.
Food and drink manufacturing companies are rarely aware that the reason they are experiencing production problems is as a direct result of uncontrollable ambient humidity levels in their facilities.
Dehumidification systems make major advancements and introduce innovative processes across this sector.
Dehumidifiers for the Food Industry
Uncontrolled humidity leads to bacterial growth condensation on cold products, damaging packaging, and spoiling the product causing poor consumer experiences.
Refrigerant dehumidifiers and desiccant dehumidifiers are efficient ways of reducing humidity in the atmosphere and maintaining desired humidity and temperature control.
Keep production processing and storage facilities safe is also important to keep humidity controlled as it improves cleanliness. Hygiene is essential in all aspects of the food production and processing process.
Several different levels of humidity and heat control have emerged across production, processed, and storage areas from the packaging rooms of food products to the food and beverage packing spaces.
Applications of Dehumidifiers in the Food Industry
Controlling humidity levels is crucial in large bakeries where flours, grains, and other foods are hygroscopic, sometimes clump during contact with condensation or moisture in the air
Maintaining an appropriate humidity level ensures that your equipment is more effective and with less downtime. Also, it is essential for successful development and avoiding issues such as molds and mildew.
Too much condensation could cause problems when freezing frozen food. A small amount of moisture can damage any underlying product to be thrown back.
A few of the applications of food dehumidifiers are as below.
1. When creating sweets and bakery goods like cookies, it's critical to maintain a low humidity level. When moisture enters the container during packing, the item's longevity drops dramatically.
2. Excessive dampness and warmth can cause date deterioration, spoiling, or destruction. Date processing and packing require a low-humidity atmosphere to maintain quality and prolong their shelf life.
3. Condensation of air may occur in poultry and meat processing plants when the moisture content is high. This will have an impact on the machine and the quality of the process. Meat and poultry businesses should consider a condensation and desiccant dehumidifier.
4. Lowering the temperature and humidity levels aids in preventing frost and ice accumulation on your stored items.
5. The moisture should be extremely low throughout the chocolate-making procedure, up to and including the wrapping process. If the chocolate absorbs moisture before being wrapped, it will go sour in a few days.
Food & Beverage Industry Dehumidification
Controlled temperatures from farm to spoon making quality products more consistent but also saving energy and increasing profitability.
A dehumidifier will boost operational productivity by ensuring that humidity doesn't affect surrounding materials or product quality.
It ensures that your facility maintains the right levels of humidity for your food and beverages requirements.
Reduce the Formation of Frost and Ice on Stored Goods
Frost formation and freezing are produced on the prepared goods. The moisture particles forming within ice sheets will solidify.
This causes a lot of inconvenience to the operator and increases energy costs etc. A dehumidifier can greatly reduce its effect on humidity levels.
Benefits of Dehumidification (In the Food Industry)
Moisture could affect the production and storage of food products. Only under proper humidity levels can the product preserve its highest quality and extend its shelf life.
When condensation accumulates in production equipment or organism of the environment, there is an exponential increase in the risk of mold, mildew, or microorganism contamination causing health issues for users.
1. Controls Moisture in Food Production and Storage
Condensation for cold foods increases water leak problems with stored food. Keep a clean production, storage, and/or processing facility is considered a must to keep food safe and free from harmful particles of contamination.
2. Reduce Production Speed & Capacity
There are days and weeks of work wasted waiting for the dry and the production to commence naturally. Faster drying times of course means that more products can be produced at a larger speed while retaining the quality of the product.
More could then be made of quicker drying times and the faster drying time means more will be produced to increased speeds and the quality will be preserved.
3. Improve Product Quality
In the plastic beverage packaging, liquid water droplets are formed in condensation, creating bumps on the plastic mold surface. But labels will practically never remain valid.
Longer shelf life is attractive for both store owners and consumers and in its effect helps reduce waste by introducing higher efficiency.
Better quality products will last longer if they are free from quality defects that could result in decreasing their shelf life such as misshapen.
4. Reduce Energy Usage
Achieving constant relative humidity conditions within the workstation will increase the cost-effective performance of expensive machinery.
Excess moisture might lead to condensation in equipment, wet flooring, and damp electrical systems. If humidification is kept under control, this makes equipment less prone to blockages, expensive breakdowns, and longer-lasting effectiveness.
5. Reduce Wastage
Dehumidifiers can dramatically help reduce food waste by helping you get it right the first time. High consumer demands and more competitors mean achieving maximum efficiency and discarded stuff not meeting high standards is a necessity.
This includes cutting corners that have a poor reputation and increasing the customer's confidence in your company.
6. Reduce Frost and Ice Formation on Stored Goods
The food industry involves cold rooms, walk-in freezers, ultra-low freezers, etc. In all such cases, frost and ice formation happen on the stored goods.
This is due to the solidification of the moisture particles. This causes inconvenience to the operators, increases the energy cost. A dehumidifier can drastically reduce this problem by reducing the moisture content in the air.
Related Article: Are Dehumidifiers Used in Cold Storage Rooms?
Dehumidifiers in Food Packaging & Processing FAQ
What Humidity % Is Safe To Store Food?
The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and FDA (Food and Drug Administration) guidelines recommend that food storage should be held at a humidity level below 60% RH.
How Can I Dehumidify the Air Inside a Cupboard To Protect the Contents From Rusting?
Air in a cupboard will naturally be at a humidity level above 60% RH. Opening the door of a closed cupboard to store food products in it might not help reduce the humidity level inside the space to safe levels.
A simple, effective method is to fit an electric dehumidifier in the storage area and set it like a timer to switch on only when the door is closed.
Can Dehumidifiers Be Used in an Unheated Cold Area?
Yes, dehumidifiers can be used in this climate control. Dehumidifiers are built to function even in low temperatures, their insides insulated with special coatings that prevent the internal components from freezing when working under cold conditions.
Is Water From a Dehumidifier Safe To Drink?
No, dehumidifier water cannot be used to drink. It might contain contaminants that are not safe for use.
The best practice is to simply shut off the dehumidifier and allow it to drain the collected water outside of the building.
Related Article: Can You Drink Water From a Dehumidifier? Uses & Is It Safe?
