The new InfraLab e-Series Multi-component At-Line Food Analyser uses non-contacting multi-wavelength NIR (near infra-red) technology to measure the moisture, oil/fat and protein contents of a wide range of food materials.
Those include: Snack foods, biscuits and cookies, chocolate, meat, breakfast cereals, cheese, coffee, dairy powders, wheat, grain and seeds, tea and food ingredient powders.
Andrew Brunt, marketing communications manager, NDC Infrared Engineering, told FoodProductionDaily.com: “The analyzer allows measurements of moisture, fat and protein to be made simultaneously from samples taken from a food process line. This leads to quality improvements through improved process visualisation, giving process consistency.”
Specification limits
A company statement added: “With a measurement period of less than 10 seconds, minimum sample preparation and no special user skills requirement, the InfraLab e-Series helps to improve process insight to reduce variation and control the process average closer to the specification limits.”
The InfraLab can be calibrated to the process plant’s primary reference methods and is said to produce measurements from beside the production line to laboratory accuracy.
Reliable to use in a range of conditions, the analyzer is claimed to produce consistent and accurate measurements independent of product and ambient changes in the process area such as temperature, relative humidity and factory lighting.
Siting the InfraLab beside the process line, removes the need to send samples away for laboratory analysis and saves time and money while leading to faster batch release.
Ease of use is said to help to improve batch consistency and traceability and reduce the operator’s workload. “Recognising that food processing companies use many different primary reference methods, either in-house or externally, the InfraLab’s linear factory calibrations are adjusted easily to provide equivalent measurements, saving on analysis costs and laboratory overhead and delivering considerable time advantages,” said the company.
Touchscreen control
Each measurement is pre-loaded into the InfraLab and can be selected from the drop-down menu within the equipment’s touchscreen control panel.
The analyzer can be connected via ethernet to management information systems, LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System) networks or to a PC. It is said to have extensive integral memory capacity which allows the display or storage of data locally and centrally. “The system allows up to 200 users with configurable access permissions, and up to 10000 sample measurements to be stored before downloading,” said Brunt.
The InfraLab is available globally and price is available on application, according to the company.