Schmalz ensures secure handling of baked goods

Schmalz has launched a new range of food compliant suction cups suitable for use across the different stages of baked goods production: from handling individual dough pieces within an automated production process, or as an integral part of a vacuum carpet, through to handling finished and frozen bakery products.

Vacuum technology for handling food products is an indispensable part of the manufacturing process and can be found in many areas: sorting or transferring products on conveyor belts and packaging or repackaging products quickly and efficiently at the end of the line.

To ensure that delicate food products such as muffins, waffles, cookies, chocolates and even eggs can be handled with the care necessary to maintain the integrity of the product, suction cups must be able to adapt flexibly to the surface characteristics of the different food products. This not only helps to prevent leakage, but also ensures that the products are able to be handled quickly and securely every time.

Manufactured from SI-HD, an FDA-compliant material which contains a small amount of metal oxide, the new Schmalz vacuum cups are compatible with industry standard metal detection systems. This means if a suction cup finds its way into a tray, it can be quickly detected, preventing food contamination. In addition, the wear resistant properties which these cups provide means that this range of vacuum cups will prove to be indispensable for many bread and bakery handling applications.

The flexible sealing lip and high-volume flow characteristics of these new products will provide process-safe handling of many different baked goods, including those with uneven contours.

For example, products such as chocolates with or without toppings/decorations, often have very different shapes and surface textures. Suction cups used for product handling must be able to flexibly adapt to these different shapes and textures in order to prevent leakage whilst also securely gripping the products in question.