The Employment Of Nitrogen Membrane Generators In The Food Industry

By Tammie Caldwell


Whenever a person visits a grocery store, they will always find packaged foods that are fresh and ready to eat. What they may not realize is that this is possible due the operation of nitrogen membrane generators that are used in the food industry. The use of this equipment enables companies to accomplish their goal of having products stay fresh long enough so that they can reach stores across the country.

One can tell how fresh a food is by the color, flavor, and aroma of it. If these three factors are not in place, a person will not buy the product because it is not appetizing. Also, one has to be careful of getting sick due to products that are not well preserved for a reasonable amount of time. This can cause companies to lose money and customers to lose faith in the companies if there are no solutions.

One of the main reasons for the spoilage of food over time is oxidation. This is a process where oxygen reacts with the food changing the way it looks, taste and smell. This happens to many different types of food like apples. When they are cut, the white flesh of the fruit exposed to the air turns brown and soon becomes inedible.

Since oxygen creates this situation, which is not good for the food industry, nitrogen is used to preserve edible items in packages. This inert gas does not change the color or flavor of the food and the aroma remains the same for a significantly longer period of time. Bacterial growth is also minimized to a great degree.

Oxidation does not only affect the color of the food in question, but it also interacts with natural oils creating rancidity. To prevent this process from taking place, nitrogen blanketing is used to stop the process of rancidity which helps to maintain the freshness of the product. Items with naturally occurring oils in them include chips and other snack foods that have a significant amount of oil.

Purity levels of nitrogen used in the packaging of food depend on what the company needs to maintain a proper shelf life of the product. This can range anywhere from 95 - 99.9% purity depending on the type of food that is being packaged. Most companies will use an oxygen meter to determine how much oxygen can remain in the packaged product before it begins to spoil or become rancid.

When this level of purity has been decided, a company can then choose the type of system they will use to package their food item. Membrane technology is one of the systems used to create a certain level of purity which is usually below 98%. This is usually good enough for certain types of foods depending on what the company needs.

By having their products up to standard, companies in the food industry can provide the best service to their customers. Their products can be taken over long distances of several miles and the quality will remain the same. As a result, the customer can have convenience items that they can take with them on the go, knowing that they will last for a specific amount of time.




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