Slicing
Cutting, slicing, chopping, mincing, pulping, pressing. The objective of cutting, slicing, chopping, mincing and pulping processes is to reduce the size of material either for further processing or to improve the eating quality or suitability of foods for direct consumption.
Field of application
These operations are very widely applied in the food industry. For example, they are used in the processing of meat, fish, cheese, vegetables, fruits, potatoes, and various crops (sugar beet).
Description of techniques, methods and equipment
A large variety of equipment for cutting, slicing, chopping, mincing and pulping is available, normally adapted to the product to be processed. Equipment can be power- or hand-operated, depending on the size of the operations.
a) Cutting
Cutting is used for the size reduction of large to medium sized parts of food material; knives, blades, cleavers or saws are usually used for the cutting. Cutting is an important operation in meat and fish processing. Cutting of meat is used post slaughtering to dress and split carcases, to remove offal and to remove appendages and, where required, excess fat and bones. Carcases are further reduced into retail cuts of joints by the removal of bone, skin and fat. Meat prepared for further processing into ham, bacon, sausage, etc., will be treated initially in a similar manner to fresh meat, and will then be subject to further processing operations. These may include further deboning, derinding, defatting, slicing, comminuting, emulsifying, etc. The cutting equipment used in meat processing includes power operated cleavers, circular or straight saws for splitting carcases, and band saws for the further reduction of the carcases. These are all electrically operated. Special derinding machines are used for separating rind and fat from pork carcases. The cutting of potatoes for the production of french-fries often involves the use of hydro cutters (where the potatoes are conveyed by water at high speed over fixed blades).
b) Slicing
In slicing, regular pieces of material are obtained. Slicing equipment consists of rotating or reciprocating blades which cut the food when it passes beneath. Sometimes the material is pressed against the blades by centrifugal force. In other cases, e.g. for slicing meat products, the material is held on a carriage as it travels across the blade. Hard fruits, such as apples, are simultaneously sliced and de-cored as they are forced over stationary knives inside a tube. In the sugar industry sugar beets are cut into thin slices, called “cossettes”. A variant of slicing is dicing (applied to vegetables, fruits and meats), where the food is first sliced and then cut into strips by rotating blades. The strips are passed on to a second set of rotating knives, which operate at right angles to the first set, and cut the strips into cubes.
c) Chopping
Many products require the breaking down of raw materials into small particles (comminution). This can be achieved by chopping. Chopping into a coarse pulp is applied to meat, fruits and vegetables. In chopping, the material is placed in a slowly rotating bowl and subjected to a set of blades rotating at high speed. This technique, normally called bowl chopping, is widely used in the production of sausages and similar products. In bowl chopping, the degree of comminution can be varied depending on the knife-speed and cutting time, and in extreme cases the material can be reduced to an emulsion if required.
d) Mincing
Mincing is mainly used for the size reduction and homogenisation of meat. A meat grinder is used to mince the meat. This is a lightly constructed screw press with a cutting plate or rotating knives at its outlet. The process is a combination of cutting and extrusion (where the meat is passed through a plate with orifices).
e) Pulping
Pulping is mainly used for the size reduction and homogenisation of fruit and vegetables. A moving rough surface ruptures the fruits (vegetables) and squeezes the material through a gap producing an homogenised mass. The most common pulpers are drum pulpers and disc pulpers. Sometimes the pulping process is used for juice extraction.
f) Pressing
Pressing as applied directly to harvested grapes (or other raw materials) or marc (after maceration) to extract the liquid part of the raw material. Pressing is used in wine production but also for some other alcoholic beverages.
Different types of presses are used. The main ones are:
Horizontal pneumatic presses.
A pneumatic membrane located in the centre of the press is inflated: berries are slowly pressed liberating the must in a tank when the solid parts remain in the press.
Hydraulic compression vertical presses.
Grapes are placed in a “cage” which maintains the grapes during the pressing. A horizontal tray presses the grapes vertically. The must flows through the cage and is collected in a tank for further processing. The grapes remain in the cage.
There are also other types of presses: e.g. belt presses, horizontal presses, etc.
Aviko supports innovation with hygienic cable guide
Streamline HD pilot project: lower costs, maximum food safety.
Wherever it can, Aviko supports initiatives that contribute to food safety in the food and drinks industry. In the context of context of increasing production, Van Lente Systeemintegratie B.V. installed several Niedax Streamline HD cable tray systems for Aviko. This resulted in lower costs and time savings for Aviko and maximum food safety for the consumer.
Aviko has been in existence for fifty years. Following the construction of the production site in Steenderen, Aviko captured the world market in frozen chips; all from its humble beginnings in Achterhoek, simply by using honest products. With a diverse product range, including successful potato specialities like Aviko Rösti and Aviko Aardappelpuree, the Dutch producer has grown into one of the biggest potato-processing companies in the world.
Aviko believes in the responsible use of natural resources and in high-quality food processing with a particular focus on the nutritional value of the potato products. Gerwin Schuurman, Project Engineer at Aviko: “I have worked here since 1997 and a great deal has changed over the past twenty years. Aviko regularly brings new products onto the market and the factory has been extended a number of times. Each time it has been extended we have looked more and more closely at details that have an impact on food safety. The ladder conveyor belts together with the cabling to control the production lines have always been a point of concern. We use an open cable guide system that is easy to clean. It was only the tie-wraps that hold the wires in place that continued to form a potential risk factor in terms of maximum hygiene. We wanted to eliminate this risk.”
Safe Food Factory
People and the technology together determine the quality of food processing and sometimes you need people to ask questions about the technology that have a practictical focus. Like last year at the meeting of the Safe Food Factory expertise centre on food safety and cabling. Representatives of the entire food-producing chain came together in Ede, from food and drinks producers to machine manufacturers and installers, to share thoughts and develop common guidelines on the central question: ‘How do you ensure cabling in the food industry is hygienic?’ This exploration resulted in the first practical guidelines for hygienic cabling that have now been applied across the sector.
Business Development Manager at Niedax Group Michael Evers was present at the meeting in his former role as Account Manager Food & Beverage, as was Bert Smid who, as Commercial Manager at Van Lente Systeemintegratie B.V., has brought many projects in the food industry including for Aviko to a successful conclusion. Project Engineer Gerwin Schuurman from Aviko asked about ways to minimise the number of tie-wraps in production environments. Because there is a rule at Aviko: ‘No non-detectable tie-wraps above the production lines’.
Aviko's need for cable conduits without tie-wraps reflects a general need in the food and drinks industry and the producers' market. Following discussions with the Hygienic Cabling working group at the Safe Food Factory expertise platform, specialist in cable management Niedax Group developed the Streamline Hygienic Design (HD) cable management system, a cable guide system with an ingenious fastening system that can be hygienically cleaned for carrying cables of all types, dimensions and diameters.
Pilot project
All tie-wraps used in the Aviko production facilities had metal strips so that, in the unlikely event they should drop onto the production line, they could be detected and removed. More than half a million of these tie-wraps were in use at the Steenderen production facility. At an initial cost price of seventy cents each the tie-wraps have come to be a significant cost item. Van Lente advised Aviko to try out an innovative cable guide system that completely does away with the need for tie-wraps.
Following discussions internally, Aviko decided to try out the latest development in the field of hygienic cabling at the earliest opportunity. This opportunity arose when the production line had to be extended to provide production capacity of 22,000 tonnes a year for the new Rösti Rondjes. Schuurman explains, “We thought: the hygienic cable tray system could well the kind of thing we're looking for, so we decided to do a trial and share our experiences in practice with the other Aviko sites.”
Van Lente created a design for the installation of the Niedax Streamline HD cable guides and arranged for their installation on site. Twenty five control current and motor cables were laid over more than fifteen metres of hygienic cable trays. Mark Wesselink, lead fitter at Van Lente, continues: “Installation took next to no time. A couple of building alterations had to be made in the production facility and, having done that, the Streamline HD system could be installed smoothly and without problems. That was in September 2016. Since then a few changes have been made to the cable guide system, which also went smoothly. The absence of tie-wraps makes adding extra cables quick and easy. All in all the cost of laying and adding cables with the HD product was three times less than with a conventional solution. Not having to work with tie-wraps makes a big difference.”
Producing quality together
The slogan Producing quality together, that can be seen all over the Aviko factory premises, is one that Aviko, Van Lente and Niedax have modelled perfectly in this hygienic design project. According to Evers: “This the result of a series of demand-driven innovations. The fact that the market players have stated the undesirability of tie-wraps in production environments in practical guidelines via Safe Food Factory has created clarity around the installation of hygienic cabling. I also applaud this successful joint project as a member of the board of EHEDG Nederland and a Member of the Executive Committee of EHEDG International. Clearly, everyone in the food industry is committed to achieving maximum food safety to the best of their knowledge, but by sharing know-how a new standard has come about for hygienic cabling. Streamline HD is the first tangible result of this.”
Less is more
In addition to cost and time savings, the key thing for Aviko was to minimise the hygiene risks in the production environment. Schuurman explains, “We may well have an advanced detection system, but now there are no tie-wraps in the vicinity of the production belts we have minimised the risk to zero. When it comes to food hygiene, here at Aviko we simply go for the safest option, and experience has taught us that a solution that minimises unnecessary material is often the best.“
To continue to be able to meet the ever more demanding requirements of customers into the future, Aviko will continue to promote new improvements for making production processes more sustainable and safer and where possible subject these developments to practical tests. Schuurman again: “Van Lente helped to point us in the direction of new developments and to bundle these in the form of a complete solution. We like the solution from Niedax because it offers enhanced food safety while saving time and costs. The next time we extend the facility we will go for hygienic Streamline HD cable guides.”
Featured expert: Michael Evers
