As anyone who works with food manufacturing and packaging applications knows, exposure to oxygen can accelerate the spoiling process which can lead to lost revenue. Mold, microbe formation, and other food issues can crop up if oxygen is able to interact with your food. This is why nitrogen gas, being inert and dry, is the perfect solution to prevent food spoilage. Nitrogen generators for dairy food packaging can give you all the nitrogen you need—for a price that you can afford.
Brief Overview of Food Packaging Using MAP
Modified atmospheric packaging (MAP) is the process of replacing oxygen in atmospheric air with nitrogen as the atmosphere in your food package. This allows your food to remain fresh, taste great, look good, smell good, and otherwise be in a consumption-ready state when the consumer opens the package.
MAP is industry best practice for the dairy industry (including cheese), meats, chips, other snack foods containing oils, cookies, and coffee to name a few.
Nitrogen generators for food packaging are the lowest cost source for the nitrogen you’ll require for MAP. This cuts out the traditional nitrogen supplier, saving you money, time, and resources all while reducing your carbon footprint.
The Effects of MAP on Milk and Milk Products
If your dairy products are exposed to oxygen in the ambient air, it will begin to absorb moisture and start to spoil by developing microbes and mold.
Lactose products are very hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs moisture from the air. This moisture absorption even happens in dry milk products. Dairy products tend to absorb the moisture in the air, allowing microbes to grow and otherwise hastening the spoiling process.
When dairy products are packaged in a nitrogen atmosphere, the inert gas makes it easy for your packaging to feature that full and fresh look without causing your product to spoil. Nitrogen generators for dairy product MAP are a common feature in many dairy product manufacturing plants as they supply the required nitrogen at the lowest possible cost.
Typical Gas Bends Used for Milk, Milk Products, and other Dairy Products
The two main gas types used in food packaging are nitrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2). Oxygen can also be used in some applications such as packaging certain meat products.
While CO2 is the most commonly featured gas after nitrogen, CO2 is absorbed into the food more easily, helping to prevent spoilage and reducing microbial growth but CO2 also requires a far higher ratio gas to product ratio then nitrogen and is more expensive.
Nitrogen, by contrast, is inert and can create an atmosphere for your dairy food product that is free from moisture and oxygen that would otherwise cause the dairy product to spoil quickly. In some instances, a 100% nitrogen atmosphere is beneficial.
It’s also very easy to produce nitrogen onsite with an onsite nitrogen generator designed for food packaging processes.
Advantage of Onsite Nitrogen Gas Generators for Milk and Dairy Packaging
A company can source their required nitrogen supply in one of two ways: via a traditional industrial gas supplier, or alternatively you can produce your own nitrogen onsite and on-demand with a nitrogen generating system.
The second option allows you to use your onsite nitrogen generator for milk or other dairy food packaging and reduces the administration cost associated with procuring nitrogen from a third party vendor. In addition to ensuring that you have the nitrogen you need when you need it, generating your own nitrogen onsite is the lowest cost nitrogen supply option available by far and it has the added benefit of reducing your carbon footprint by eliminating nitrogen deliveries.
Nitrogen generators have a small footprint so they are relatively unobtrusive, they’re extremely energy efficient, rarely experience downtime, and ensure that you have a steady supply of nitrogen on demand as required.
Nitrogen generators for a large food packaging operation in general can save a business millions of dollars over the course of its life cycle. They also offer the following benefits:
- independent supply of nitrogen when you need it
- low maintenance costs
- automatic system operation
- fast ROI
- low space requirements
Onsite Nitrogen Generators for Food and Beverage Industries at Advanced Gas Technologies
If you’re ready to install an onsite nitrogen generator for dairy product MAP applications or other food product MAP applications in order to cut operating costs, ensure you deliver high-quality and spoilage-free products and deliver all the nitrogen gas your business requires to meet its packaging demands, you need a nitrogen generating system from Advanced Gas Technologies Inc. We’re among the most experienced solution providers available in the North American marketplace and can deliver that system directly to your business’s doorstep and help you substantially reduce operating costs.
Advanced Gas Technologies Inc. has been designing, marketing, installing, and maintaining industrial gas generating systems, standard industrial compressor systems, and engineered compressor systems throughout North America since 1994. Over the years we have helped our clients reduce their industrial nitrogen and oxygen costs by utilizing leading edge technologies such as onsite nitrogen and oxygen generating systems.
Contact us toll-free at 1-(866) 725-7551 in North America or (905) 305-0094 local and overseas to learn more about our onsite oxygen and nitrogen generators, including our high-efficiency onsite membrane generators and PSA nitrogen generators.