Nutritional blends with allergen control and safety

Client objectives

In the context of producing dietary supplements for livestock, the client’s primary objective was to enhance the safety and quality of their blends to meet food safety and traceability standards. A key challenge was managing allergen risks and preventing cross-contamination between different recipes, especially when handling sensitive powders. Inadvertent residues or accidental mixes could jeopardize product quality and animal health.

To prevent cross-contamination, the goal was to design a fully sealed and easy-to-clean blending line that minimized powder residues and limited allergen propagation risks. Full traceability was essential, enabling the client to monitor the integrity of each blend and quickly identify any potential contamination sources.

Furthermore, the client sought to reduce operators’ exposure to allergenic and sensitive products by minimizing direct handling and optimizing dust management in the work environment. Consistent blend homogeneity was crucial to guarantee a stable nutritional quality, vital for animal health and farm productivity. Lastly, the client needed a flexible, scalable installation that could adapt to industry demands while meeting profitability requirements.

 

Proposed solution

To address the client’s specific needs, Palamatic Process developed the FlexMix® blending line, incorporating specialized equipment for unpacking, blending, transfer, and container cleaning. This line is designed to minimize contamination risks, provide complete traceability at each step, and facilitate allergen management.

The FlexMix® blending line includes:

• Sacktip® bag emptying station: Allows fast, ergonomic unpacking of 25 kg bags, with an integrated dust extraction and empty bag compaction system.

• Big Bag emptying station: Reduces manual handling of heavy loads and optimizes ingredient dosing.

• Container mixer: Ensures optimal blend homogeneity in a closed circuit, with easy cleaning as only the containers require washing (versus a traditional mixing line).

• Easy Clean container washing station: Provides quick, automated cleaning of containers after each production cycle.

• Pal'Touch® control and traceability system: Centralises commands and guarantees batch traceability.

 

Industrial equipment and benefits of the Palamatic Process solution

The FlexMix® line developed for this client comprises several key industrial components, each configured to maximize blending efficiency while ensuring high levels of safety and allergen control.

Sacktip® bag emptying station

This station allows safe and efficient bag emptying, handling up to three bags per minute. Equipped with an empty bag compactor that reduces waste volume by 70%, it also features a dust extractor with a capacity of 1,500 m³/h, capturing dust emissions at the source and providing a clean work environment that reduces operators’ exposure to allergens.

Big bag emptying station

Capable of handling loads from 800 kg to 1,500 kg, this station reduces manual handling of heavy loads by 85%, improving operator safety. An integrated weighing system with ±0.1% accuracy ensures reliable dosing and uniform distribution of components.

FlexMix® container mixer

This mixer handles volumes of 800 to 1,800 liters, achieving over 98% homogeneity in less than eight minutes, even for complex recipes. Thanks to its closed-circuit design, residues are limited to less than 0.5%, reducing cross-contamination risks and easing cleaning between batches.

Easy Clean container washing station

This station guarantees perfect container hygiene between each production batch. Equipped with high-pressure washing nozzles (15 l/min at 120 bars), it cleans and disinfects containers effectively, reducing cross-contamination risks and minimizing powder residues. The Easy Clean station enables quick cleaning, reduces production downtime, and ensures maximum hygiene.

Pal'Touch® control and traceability

The Pal'Touch® interface centralizes FlexMix® line commands. This Siemens ET200 SP controller offers advanced traceability, displaying real-time dosing and sequencing instructions. Using RFID chips, it records batch information for each container, ensuring precise identification at each stage and full compliance with food safety standards.

Benefits of the Palamatic Process solution

Contamination management and allergen safety

The FlexMix® line minimzes contamination risks through sealed containment systems, effective dust extraction, and a container washing station. The high-pressure cleaning of the Easy Clean station reduces cross-contamination risks, ensuring thorough hygiene in every production cycle.

 

Discover the Easy Clean range from Palamatic Process

 

Operator safety and ergonomics

By reducing the handling of heavy loads with the Sacktip® and big bag emptying stations, the solution enhances operator safety. Physical risks are reduced by 70%, while workstation ergonomics are optimized for continuous, safe use.

Blend homogeneity and quality

The container mixer ensures homogeneous ingredient distribution with over 98% accuracy, essential for consistent nutritional quality in finished products.

Flexibility and adaptability

The FlexMix® line allows quick adjustments to accommodate different formulations and production volumes thanks to its modular structure and centralized control system. Automated container washing ensures fast batch rotation, enhancing production capacity.

Cost optimization

Advanced automation in the FlexMix® line, along with the Pal'Touch® system, ensures dosing accuracy and rigorous traceability, reducing errors and non-conformities to under 1%, thus contributing to lower operational costs and increased efficiency.

 

Conclusion

The FlexMix® solution from Palamatic Process fully meets the client’s needs for industrial safety, quality, and performance. With equipment that meets food industry standards and allergen control features, Palamatic Process offers a reliable mixing system that minimizes contamination risks. The FlexMix® line’s flexibility and robustness allow the client to adapt to market changes, providing scalable production capacity and strict compliance with food safety standards (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). This solution offers the client an optimized, secure process that supports business growth and reinforces their competitiveness in the animal nutrition market.

Find out more about our process lines in the animal nutrition sector.