Manufacturers of sports supplements, nutraceuticals and powder-based dietary supplements often require high-speed sifting devices to ensure raw materials used during production are free of contaminants or remnants of packing materials before production.
Sifting Nutraceuticals and Protein Powders
This case study follows the experience of a sports protein powder manufacturer, but is equally applicable for manufacturers of nutraceutical products as the powder characteristics and manufacturing challenges are similar.
The sports protein company in this instance required a high-speed security sifting device for all their raw materials, which were entering a large 350 cubic ft rotary batch blender.
They needed a blending capacity of up to 30,000 pounds per hour, and because of changes in legislation, the FSA (Food Safety Act) required them to sift raw ingredients through a 10-mesh sieve.
The manufacturer’s first research led them towards using a standard centrifugal sifter but they immediately faced several issues:
- The nylon screens used on the centrifugal sifter were highly vulnerable to breakage.
- They experienced a high level of waste of good material that was rejected due to agglomerations.
- The larger dimensions of the centrifugal sifter made it difficult to install in the allowable space within their production facility.
Solutions for Effective Sifting of Powders
Quadro was called in to help create a more efficient sifting stage. A FlexSift® was installed into the facility on a trial basis. This enabled the manufacturer to test a variety of ingredients and to make sure the FlexSift® could break up agglomerated material and also capture extraneous tramp material.
The FlexSift® worked as promised and captured the extraneous materials which turned out to include twist ties, plastic bags and liner materials, wood fragments, hair, and paper. The manufacturer’s workflow was also greatly improved using the FlexSift® in a gravity feed stack as a normally experienced bottleneck was eliminated.
The Results - $10,000 Saved Annually
The results were substantial. Their mixer could now be filled in a fifth of the time and as a result, an entire shift was eliminated.
Savings of $10,000 annually were realized by eliminating the waste of the agglomerated good material. In addition, the manufacturer saw no more costly recalls of contaminated products.
Speak to the Milling Experts
Quadro Engineering is a reliable provider of particle size reduction and sifting equipment. Our nutraceutical milling equipment ensures your product is accurately sized in a fraction of the time compared to traditional methods. Our equipment is meticulously designed to manage materials used in dietary supplements, health foods, and other nutritionally rich nutraceutical products.
Contact us today to request a machine quote or to discuss your application in detail.
