Ferrara Pan Candy improves food safety
23 May 2012 – With an ever growing demand from consumers for increased food safety assurances, Ferrara Pan Candy has invested in the Russell Blow Thru Sieve to further enhance their food safety control system by eliminating contamination from ingredients delivered to their site.
Founded in 1908 by Salvatore Ferrara, Ferrara Pan Candy, based in Chicago Illinois, originally started out as a retail pastry and confection shop. In 1919, following the formation of a partnership, the company expanded to manufacture a wide variety of popular confections, including Original Boston Baked Beans, Lemonhead, Red Hots, Jaw Busters and Atomic Fireballs.
Ferrara Pan Candy produces approximately 750,000lbs of candy per day, and in order to sustain this production level, over one million lbs of sugar is delivered to the factory via rail each week. The sugar is then transferred from the rail car to a silo via a bucket conveyor.
Although sugar is refined when it is produced Ferrara needs to ensure there are no molasses, minerals or other non-sugar contamination or other foreign objects that may have entered the product during rail car filling and transportation. Therefore in order to enhance the quality of their processed sugar, Ferrara decided to invest in a screening system which would remove any contamination from the sugar after it passes through the silo and before it is used on each product line. “We recognised the need for a fail safe solution to maintain quality standards,” explains Alfonso Rubio, maintenance technician.
Ferrara Pan Candy decided that the Russell Blow Thru Sieve would be the most appropriate machine for the application. Russell Finex recommended this machine as it would fit neatly into the small space that they had available to screen their sugar. In addition, with the sieve check screening and conveying in a single operation, product quality could be improved without sacrificing productivity.
However, in order to ensure this was the right machine for them, the product was tested on a demo unit. “We were very satisfied with the choice of machine, especially as production would not be slowed down as the sugar is screened whilst it is being blown to the next stage in the process,” states Rubio.
In order for the machine to suit the installation better, the machine was customised. Firstly, the inlet of the machine needed to be in a different place to fit in with the existing process line. Secondly, the unit had to be adapted to allow for an easy clean magnetic separator to be installed on the machine. The magnet removes ferrous contamination that is small enough to pass through the mesh screen by trapping the metal on the bars whilst the sugar is being blown through. “Russell Finex were more than happy to customise the machine to meet our unique requirements,” continues Rubio.
“We are very satisfied with our purchase. Russell Finex’s commitment to providing testing and customisation makes them the obvious choice for providing a quick, high quality solution”, states Rubio.
