SUPPLYING GLOBAL PLANTS FOR NUTRITIONAL FORMULAS

Liquid ingredients including raw milk, vegetable oils, and whey-based products are received into the plant where they are stored and are handled gently and hygienically. Raw milk typically undergoes heat treatment and cream separation before further formulation. We can offer a range of technologies to remove bacteria and spores from liquid ingredients to ensure maximum microbiological safety without damaging sensitive products.

A wide array of minor dry and liquid ingredients are added into Nutritional Formula. Mixing technology plays a key role in ensuring consistent processing of these complex formulations. Our innovative MIXING FORMULA® system incorporates a high-shear vacuum mixer that produce homogeneous, fully dissolved mixes while reducing the entrainment of air

The formulated product mix is further heat treated on the evaporator using a range of different solutions to ensure microbiological safety and stability. This may include; our low thermophile system, UHT technology, direct steam injection, or steam infusion technologies. Product is further concentrated before drying using a falling-film evaporator.

The dried powder is sifted using a GEA Scan-Vibro vibrating screen to remove oversized particles and then gently conveyed to storage using gravity or dense phase conveying to minimize breakdown of the powder. The powder is drawn under vacuum to minimize interstitial air and flushed with nitrogen before packing. This produces a powder with very low residual oxygen and ensures that the powder has a longer shelf-life.

GEA experts can integrate smart cooling & heating solutions into the complete Nutritional Formula process, resulting in lower energy consumption, minimized operating costs, increased sustainability and reduced carbon footprint.

Large quantities or powdered dry ingredients are added when manufacturing Nutritional Formula. These ingredients need to be tipped from 25kg bags and bulk containers which can require a large input of labor. GEA can offer a full spectrum of solutions from fully manual to highly automated tipping and conveying systems depending on your scale of operation and needs.

High pressure homogenizers are used routinely in dairy applications as they apply dynamic high-pressure energy to break particles in the fluid down to the smallest, potentially nanometer-scale size. The high pressure homogenization process creates an emulsion that is stable when the mix is concentrated, dried, packed and resolubilized by the end customer.

Spray drying is used for final moisture removal to produce a dried powder. A GEA MSD® Spray Dryer is recommended for nutritional formula to produce consistent, precisely defined functional powders with uniform bulk density and robust agglomerates and that are readily re-dissolved in water. The new CEE cyclone design allows fines recovery from drying to be maximized while minimizing smearing and energy use. Our no-intervention fines system allows fully automated CIP, reduces the risk of contamination, and ensures less downtime on the dryer.

GEA offer a range of powder filling solutions for Modified Atmosphere Packing (MAP) into 25kg bags or bulk containers. GEA 25kg Limited Intervention (Li) filling machines with fully automated bag handling improve overall operational efficiency whilst reducing labor demand. Manual or automated palletizing options are available for integration to provide a turnkey solution for customers that require it.

GEA technologies can be configured with full automation to ensure optimum efficiency and performance. The GEA Codex® solution, for example, provides full and transparent traceability of raw material and ingredients, throughout the process and into the final product.