If you are in the midst of launching an industrial food processing facility, you might find these two tips come in handy when you are picking out the equipment and supplies you need for this new business.

Ensure that your gaskets are made from non-absorbent materials

The gaskets that you select should be made from a non-absorbent material. The reason for this is as follows; in this industrial setting, most of the gaskets that you buy will be used as seals on the network of pipes that partially or fully-processed foods will pass through. It is possible that as these pipes age and wear out, they may warp or crack, in which case the liquid foods housed inside them might saturate the gaskets that sit on the ends of these pipes.

If these gaskets are made from any type of absorbent material, they may have to be replaced when an incident like this occurs. This is because the food particles that this material absorbs will go rancid, in which case food-borne pathogens may then breed on the gasket. If something like this happens, the gaskets would have to be taken off the pipes, discarded and replaced with new ones, as any further food that came into contact with them whilst it is travelling through the facility's network of pipes would end up contaminated by these pathogenic organisms. In addition to being costly, having to replace the gaskets could disrupt the processing operations in the facility. 

Reach out to a gasket supplier to learn more about the kinds of materials used in their manufacturing.

Opt for pre-insulated pipes when setting up pipe systems through which hot or cold foods travel

If the processing of the foods that are made in your facility will involving heating or chilling them, then the pipes that these particular foods flow through will need to be insulated to ensure that their temperature stays the same from the moment they enter this pipe system to the moment they exit it.

Whilst you can purchase uninsulated pipes and then have insulative jackets placed over them in areas of the pipe system where insulation is needed, it would be far better to buy pre-insulated pipes, which come with an integrated insulation membrane around them. The reason for this is as follows; if you use separately purchased insulating jackets for the pipes that need to be insulated, there is a risk that the jackets might, over time, loosen and slip off the pipes on which they are placed. If this occurs, the food that flows through these pipes that are not properly insulated, and as a result of this, its temperature could rise or fall, which could lead to bacterial growth that might cause the food to spoil. Conversely, this problem would never arise with pipes which have integrated insulation, as the insulating membrane could never fall off.

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