UK supermarket giant Tesco has successfully trialled recyclable plastic packaging that will prevent more than one million eggs going to waste each year. [ + ]

Based in Brisbane, Primo Smallgoods is one of Australia's largest smallgoods producers. The company's processing facility relies on a centralised vacuum unit from Busch Australia for its vacuum supply.

A variety of carcass chilling regimes, combining maximum surface temperature and maximum transportation times can achieve bacterial growth results equivalent to or lower than the current requirements.

Foodstuffs has joined with Loscam to develop an initiative focused on delivering a best-in-class packaging solution for its fresh produce supply chain. Loscam's standardised packaging solution includes its Active Lock produce crates and rising floor bins. [ + ]

John Nickless, National Account Manager for Innovia Films Asia Pacific, talks about what the AIP means to him and looks back over his career in the packaging industry.

New developments in thermal imaging enabled maintenance specialist Integral UK to identify refrigerant gas leaks which went undetected by other methods. The leaks were found quickly and efficiently by the GF304 thermal imaging camera from FLIR Systems.

Repeated warnings about illnesses due to tainted and improperly cooked foods highlight the need for tighter process control. Food processors need tools that automate crucial operations in a way that minimises human error but keeps costs down. Thermal imaging cameras are such a tool. [ + ]

As with human food, pet food manufacturers are required to ensure that production processes are carefully controlled. A large part of achieving this is dependent on the cooking process, which involves the controlled use of steam.

Oakey Abattoir has launched an initiative to extract green energy biogas from its wastewater streams with the COHRAL covered high rate anaerobic lagoon. Energy generated by the anaerobic digestion plant will replace the millions of dollars worth of natural gas currently consumed by the abattoir. [ + ]

ISO pressurised containers used to bring sugar to Boag's brewery continually had a residue of 2 to 3 tonnes of sugar after emptying. Aside from the freight costs and environmental impact, the effective loss of capacity of the supply vessels was a problem. [ + ]

Near infrared technology can be used for the real-time measurement of dissolved CO₂, sugars/Brix, alcohol/ethanol and organic acids in the beer, soft drink, spirits, pharmaceutical and food industries. They can also be used to monitor CIP cycles. [ + ]

When snack manufacturer Kolak Snack Foods needed to increase its output capacity to meet demand, it installed three Atlas Copco compressors. The compressors were pre-wired and pre-piped, ready to use out of the box. [ + ]

A new study of global food supplies has confirmed what experts have long suspected: in the last 50 years, human diets around the world have grown more and more similar - by a global average of 36%. [ + ]

Manufacturers of industrial packages are being hit particularly hard by price rises resulting, in part, from rising energy costs. Their containers, pallets, technical components and work-piece carriers are usually made of plastics. Although they are light and robust, a lot of energy is required for the injection-moulding of plastics packages. Furthermore, the manufacturers need granulate for this, which is in big demand and no longer available in limitless quantities.

Veuve Clicquot makes its wine in 400 tanks, each of which is monitored for up to 40 variables. The champagne house has just replacd its 10-year-old supervision system software with a new PcVue system. [ + ]