The partnership aims to eradicate food waste to landfills. (Image source: CP Foods)

Dedicated to managing surplus food and reducing food loss, Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited (CP Foods) spearheads its involvement in the ‘Thailand's Food Bank’ initiative

The partnership involving the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), the SOS Foundation, and private sector partners, aims to eradicate food waste to landfills. 

CPF Global Food Solution Public Co., Ltd. (CPFGS), the leading global food solutions provider engaged in food products and services under CP Foods, has implemented comprehensive measures to minimise food waste.

By employing meticulous inventory management strategies and extending product lifecycles through proper handling and storage, CPFGS aims to significantly curb the volume of surplus food designated for disposal. When surplus inventory is unavoidable, the company actively seeks opportunities to repurpose safe, high-quality food items through partnerships with charitable organisations and food redistribution programmes.

As part of Thailand's Food Bank project, CP Foods has implemented robust measures to minimise food waste throughout its supply chain, including optimised inventory planning, effective shelf-life management, and diverting safe, high-quality surplus food to vulnerable communities.

"At CP Foods, we prioritise responsible production and consumption practices, setting an ambitious target of Zero Food Waste to Landfill," affirmed director of logistics and distribution centres at CPFGS, Tawit Thanhakarnjanakul. “We stand ready to collaborate and contribute our expertise in studying innovative approaches to effectively manage surplus food and reduce food waste across the nation.”

For more information, visit: www.cpfworldwide.com/

Products exhibited at the event provide solutions to important economic, climatic, societal and environmental issues. (Image source: SPACE)

The next SPACE Expo, will take place from 17-19 September 2024 at the Rennes Exhibition Centre, in France

Located in Western France, Europe's largest livestock-producing region, SPACE (Salon de la Production Agricole - Carrefour Européen) has been strongly associated with Europe since its creation in 1987. The vision of its founders was and still remains to make SPACE the key event for all sectors.

Around 1,200 exhibitors and 100,000 visitors are expected to attend the event, this year. Products exhibited at the event provide solutions to important economic, climatic, societal and environmental issues. With a continued focus on new generations, their products and interactions with working farmers, the event has been rightfully recognised as being a symbol of a positive, ambitious and dynamic outlook: Empowering Generations: Let’s invent the Future. 

Their full and varied conference programme will cover a range of topics, making SPACE a unique meeting place for the animal farming industry. Aiming to promote the dynamic and diverse dairy industry in Western France, SPACE is also launching its new web series called ‘Milky Quest: Rendez-vous en Terres de Lait’. 

Moreover, featuring a simplified interface for smoother navigation, SPACE has recently upgraded its website. For more information about the event, visit: www.space.fr

Hydronix sensors are used to measure the moisture of the material entering and exiting the dryer. (Image source: Hydronix)

Managing the moisture content of cereal grains is crucial to maximising storage times, maintaining nutritional value and taste, and ensuring efficient use during further processing

Cereal grains are used to produce animal feeds, flours, cooking oils, fuels, alcohol products, packaging materials and much more.

The benefits of precise moisture control include:

o Safe storage of grain for longer duration
o Minimising the amount of energy required to dry the grain
o Maintaining the nutritional value and taste
o Reducing harvesting losses such as cracked kernels
o Reducing dependency on weather conditions for harvesting

Where to measure moisture

Hydronix sensors are used to measure the moisture of the material entering and exiting the dryer. For a system drying material with a reasonably consistent incoming moisture, one sensor can be used on the output of the dryer. The sensor’s output can be used as the process variable of a feedback control loop for the dryer.

For systems with more fluctuation on the incoming materials, this may be insufficient due to the time delay between materials entering and exiting the dryer. In this case, another sensor can be installed on the input to the dryer to implement feed-forward control of the dryer, with the value from the sensor on the output used for feedback error correction. This configuration allows the dryer control to respond quickly to changes in incoming moisture and adapt to unmodelled effects on dryer performance such as weather conditions.

Result after installing the sensor

An accuracy of ±0.17% was obtained from the output of a dryer processing barley. The moisture range was limited as the dryer controller was operating to maintain a target slightly lower than 12.5% to make the barley suitable for long-term storage.

Summary

Drying grain to a consistent target requires highly accurate sensors that can provide precise and repeatable measurements, resulting in a consistent product, a reduction in spoiled or wasted material and better efficiency.

Hydronix sensors, such as the Hydro-Mix XT and Hydro-Mix XT-EX offer a purpose built, robust and durable solution for grain drying and processing applications. These sensors can significantly increase profitability through waste reduction, yield maximisation and efficient use of energy.

For more information, visit: https://hubs.li/Q02s-Mhq0

The presence of high levels of ethylene oxide in India's MDH and Everest spice brands, have raised questions about their safety. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

India's popular spice makers MDH and Everest, are currently under FDA's radar after high levels of ethylene oxide were found in their spice blends

Hong Kong's recent suspension of three MDH spice blends and an Everest spice mix for fish curries along with Singapore's recall of the Everest spice mix, have raised questions about the safety of these products. Singapore has claimed the presence of high levels of ethylene oxide (ETO), a pesticide that poses a cancer risk with long exposure, thus deeming these products unfit for human consumption.  

According to a report by Business Today, the Indian Spices Board has agreed to commence mandatory ETO testing of these consignments, stating that it is working with exporters of these recalled consignments to investigate the root cause and propose corrective measures.