Particle Measurement for the Food and Drink Industry

The food and drink industry deals with the greatest diversity of materials encountered in any single production activity. Food producers are committed to providing food and drinks of consistent quality and uncompromising safety. Consumers will accept nothing less.

Malvern Instruments provides particle measurement products and services to help food producers deliver on that commitment. Our instruments are used throughout the food production chain, from the inspection of raw materials and ingredients to new product formulation and development, quality control and packaging.

Many characteristics of food stuffs are determined by the dynamic mechanical properties of their constituent materials or in the end product which influences the rheological properties of the bulk product. The particle charge of food emulsions and suspensions (sauces, dairy products, cream soups, cream liqueurs etc) will affect shelf life. Low particle charges will lead to agglomeration and coalescence which causes changes in particle size and rheological properties.

The taste and feel of chocolate for example, the dissolution rates of milk and coffee, the stability of cream liqueurs and the viscosity of emulsions are all influenced by particle size and charge and, these in turn influence the rheological properties. Particle size, particle charge and rheology also characterize other processes such as the emulsification of mayonnaise and the crystallization of sugar. They can be an indicator of unwanted processes like creaming and phase separation and are critical QC parameters.

In this section

	Particle measurement: Measuring particle size in the food industry Are your particles mostly < 100nm? Are your particles mostly > 100nm?
	Particle measurement: Measuring particle charge in the food industry
	Particle measurement: Measuring dynamic mechanical properties of food