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Over the past couple of years the hygienic demands and regulation for the production of instant food for babies and children has developed rapidly.

The strict food and hygiene legislation - both for the process, the installations and the plant - as well as the complexity of the food production process demand special expertise. For these reasons a production line for baby and children food should be carefully and co-ordinated engineered, designed, installed and commissioned.

Cereal-based instant porridge is given to children from the age of four months onwards. A balanced meal with the right amount of minerals and vitamins is undoubtedly very important for the health and growth of the child.

Manufacturers of baby and children food are aware of that and therefore demand a constant quality and a recognisable colour, taste and texture of their product. Besides the requirements for the food characteristics, manufacturers are confronted with strict legislation and regulations. Many governments monitor food manufacturers on the compliance with local legislation.

Another issue that concerns both the process plant and the installations are the HACCP-requirements (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) that have to be fulfiled. All these criteria can be met using a hygienic designed processing line for baby and children food. As a side-effect these type of processing lines will result in a better and controlled product quality.

Heat treatment

The hygienic design of food processing lines not only focuses on the equipment and process itself but also on the process area where the production takes place. The design of the equipment includes answers to questions such as 'where will untreated product be?', 'is the installation cleanable?' and 'what kind of materials are used?'. The process side of the design will focus on the quality of the raw product, heat treatment of the raw materials, the quality of the final product and the total production run length. Besides the equipment and process a hygienic design will also define criteria for the process area or production environment.

Typical problems that should be solved in the design phase are related to the microbiological condition of the air in the production area, the cleanability of the environment, the behaviour of operators in the process area and the hygiene procedures as recommended by law.

Processing line

A hygienic design of the processing line will result in food safety and a better product quality. These lines include slurry preparation (intake, weighing and mixing of raw materials), a drum drying section, mill-sifter section and silo/vitamin mixing section. The heart of the process installation is an advanced drum dryer that guarantees that the product will be fully gelatinised so that it can be broken down and digested in the human body.

Another advantage of the gelatinisation is the fact that the final product is easily soluble during reconstitution and therefore results in a smooth and light viscous porridge.

Due to the drum drying technology the porridge combines unique product characteristics, such as good swelling behaviour, high protein solubility and good water absorption. At least as important is the fact that the product is actually pasteurised while being dried and thus reduces the number of processes.

GMF-Gouda is based in Gouda, The Netherlands. www.gmfgouda.com