Components and equipment multinational BMG hosted clients at its inaugural industry-specific engagement days, showcasing its food and beverage industry solutions and components at its factory in Jeppestown, Johannesburg, in September.

The showcase provided advice from industry experts about the trends and requirements of the food and beverage industry and allowed BMG to engage directly with clients on their specific needs.

BMG MD Robin Briggs says that, by focusing on specific industries through such showcase days, the company is able to engage directly with clients on their specific requirements and in greater detail. BMG started with the food and beverage industry and included all the products and solutions from it and its partners.

“Our showcase days are intended for us to develop closer relationships with our clients and to address industry-specific and technical questions and queries. They are intended to showcase our capabilities, products and integrated solutions specific to the needs of each client.”

The Food and Beverage showcase included a lecture from food and beverage industry adviser Food Focus director Linda Jackson, who detailed some of the typical safety challenges and quality requirements the food and beverage industry faces, as well as the key processes and standards required to meet them.

Mostly addressing the technical personnel of the food and beverage industry, and of components manufacturers and suppliers to the industry, Jackson highlighted the complexity of operating environments and contamination vectors.

She emphasised that suppliers to the industry and equipment specialists had to must have an understanding of the uses of the components and equipment, the requirements of the client’s processes and standards and regulations to help them meet safety and quality standards.

“The dangers of poorly controlled food safety are significant, especially for vulnerable people in society, such as children and the elderly. The risks, among others, of the cross-contamination of substances between production lines must be carefully managed, and requires that the food and beverage industry and its suppliers work together to address these complex risks effectively.”

Contaminants and microorganisms must be minimised through effective design of the production processes and equipment, so that there are no dead legs or bottlenecks that provide time and space for microbes to grow.

“Microbes divide every 15 to 20 minutes through mitosis in a suitable environment and when food is present. This means that one cell can become one-million within seven hours. Such suitable conditions and food are typically present in the food industry,” she says.

From an engineering and maintenance perspective, the gaps between metal components provide perfect hiding places for microbes. Poor sanitation and poor welds provide niche areas for microbes and allows pathogens to become resident in a factory.

To effectively manage food safety risks, the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) standards must be adhered to. Therefore, each step in a production process much be analysed, as well as each piece of equipment, to identify what can go wrong and how these problems can be prevented.

“Designing out a potential problem is the most effective way to address these risks,” says Jackson, reiterating the important role food and beverage industry service providers and suppliers play in ensuring food safety and food quality.

Equipment manufacturers must understand client requirements to help clients meet their production and food safety needs.