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Cold Aseptic Filling (CAF) Lines are widely used in the process of manufacturing beverage with PET bottles. Often the last process for manufacturing beverages, it involves taking final produce and bottling at ambient temperatures. The use of CAF lines is increasing, largely because they are seen to be healthier and improve production efficiencies with energy, time and cost savings attributed to CAF lines.
The use of CAF lines is increasing, largely because they are seen to be healthier and improve production efficiencies with energy, time and cost savings attributed to CAF lines. They are used for multiple products but predominantly for a variety of dairy and beverage products.
The choice of sanitizer will depend on the producer, buyer or regulator, and sometimes requires combining the demands of multiple parties.
The most common sanitizer in the CAF process is currently peracetic acid (PAA). Products with PET bottles often use PAA as a sanitizer because it is known to be more stable than hydrogen peroxide. Unlike chlorine-based sanitisers, both PAA and hydrogen peroxide do not leave any ‘toxic’ residue on the produce, therefore hydrogen peroxide is also used in some suitable applications.
Sanitizing of produce is crucial to the quality of final produce. Sanitizers must be measured at a series of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) to ensure that they are not being over or under dosed with sanitizer.
Critical Control Points can vary depending on the producer or process. However common test points include where the caps of PET bottles are sterilized, and for sterilization inside and outside of the bottle. In addition to the bottle itself, the packaging machine needs to be sterilized, this ensures that the aseptic status is maintained across the whole system.
Test frequency and results are closely monitored by internal quality departments as well as external regulators and buyers who will audit the facility. The exact sanitizer concentration and test frequency is usually determined by the quality control department of the manufacturer but can also come from packaging line vendors or produce buyers.
Kemio Disinfection from Palintest delivers reliable and traceable results of PAA on your CAF line, to ensure maximum produce safety. With no glassware and automatically logged results, Kemio is suitable for controlled manufacturing environments. Find out more here.
Kemio™ Heavy Metals has the only portable EPA approved method for lead testing.
For more details, contact your Palintest representative.
Check standards are used to determine if an instrument is still within calibration.
Photometers work by sending light through the sample, check standards for these instruments are usually either Coloured Solutions or Neutral Density Filters (NDF). Both types have known and certified transmittance or absorbance values so they should give these values when read in a photometer. To make the checking process even simpler some instruments will convert these to a parameter such as chlorine and give the value mg/L. The ‘target’ value is on the certificate supplied with the set of Check Standards.
Kemio and sensor instrument check standards verify that the instrument correctly measures electric signals. As with electrochemical sensors in samples, the instrument applies a voltage to the check standard and measures the resulting current. Check standards include verified resistors, which produce a consistent electric current. Kemio validates the measured current internally. Sensor instruments display the corresponding concentration value, which is compared manually to target values on the certificate supplied with the set of check standards. Check standard kits come with three standards to test across the measurement range.
Kemio is a multi-parameter instrument. Each batch of sensors has its unique batch calibration information. Scanning the sensor allows Kemio to select the correct test type and use the specific batch information. Using the correct batch is imperative to ensure the accuracy of your results.
To perform additional tests using a sensor from the same batch, you can select ‘retest’ after performing a test. Alternatively, you can change your scanning settings from Configuration > Settings > Test Settings > Scanner Settings.
