Analytical Instrumentation Delivers High Quality, Safe Foodstuffs from Seed to Supermarket Shelf

Xylem's analytical involvement spans right across the food & beverage cycle; monitoring the water we use to irrigate crops, within the production and cold-chain distribution processes before finally being displayed to consumers at supermarkets around the World.

Quality control, food safety and efficient processing are paramount at every stage whether manufacturing beverages, confectionery, oils, flavours, sauces, soups or simply supplying fresh product; Xylem helps satisfy those needs.

As well as providing WTW brand premium quality inoLab® laboratory meters and Sentix® electrodes that provide measurement of key parameters such as pH, conductivity, turbidity and temperature in the production process, OI Analytical GC detectors commonly analyse several raw materials for authenticity and pesticide residue. Meanwhile, the YSI 2900 Biochemistry Analyser can also be found in specialist applications where low concentration sugar blends require control such as within the potato chip and tomato processing arenas, where results are displayed in less than a minute.      

However, one of the most used instruments is undoubtedly a refractometer for determining the °Brix of sugar containing foodstuffs as well as other liquid blends. For a century now, Bellingham + Stanley has been manufacturing refractometers in the UK and today, the latest OPTi® digital handheld and RFM precision laboratory refractometers can be found controlling the dilutions of many recognised household products often alongside SI Analytics Titroline® titrator that not only analyses acid content but also the blend ratio of non-sugar based diet drinks.  The newly launched DSG Series of density meters compliment this measurement capability.

When it comes to safety within the cold-chain distribution process, ebro’s EBI 300 Series of USB data loggers provide a viable method of ensuring fresh fruit, vegetables, meat & fish stays within safe boundaries throughout its journey; whilst at the supermarket, EBI-25 wireless data loggers and WinLog® software constantly monitors refrigerated display cabinets.