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WDS: Starchless on the fast lane

Source:Winkler und Dünnebier Release Date:2021-03-22 4458
Food, Beverage & Personal CareFood & BeverageFood Processing & Equipment
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Innovative manufacturing technology for the production of gums and jellies with functional properties from Winkler und Dünnebier Süßwarenmaschinen GmbH (WDS)


By Holger Brack, Food Engineer MSc

Head of Product Technology Lab and Applications 

Winkler und Dünnebier Süßwarenmaschinen GmbH


Today, companies investing in this area and trying to sell their products successfully worldwide has to follow consequently the philosophy of a clean and secure food production (GMP) that has to be consistently implemented and documented since food production must comply to significantly higher hygienic standards than those previously considered sufficient in confectionery production.Regarding the production of gums and jellies with additives or OTC medicines, the classical manufacturing process with starch powder (Mogul technology) is becoming increasingly less important.


OTC sugared gummy-WDS.jpg

OTC gummies, sugared


Gums and jellies have reached a very high level of consumer acceptance. Growth rates – in some cases in the double-digit range – show the current success story resulting from the combination of a sweet, fruity taste and an appealing chewing structure.


Furthermore, fruit gums follow consequently the new food-trend of using exclusively natural and original raw materials from organic farming. Vegan-, or organic-declarations help that the little sweets lose their unhealthy image.


In a world of more and more single households, lack of exercise together with increasing digitalization and scheduling of personal time/lifestyle-management, there is less for healthy cooking and eating. To-go products are experiencing a boom and snacking in between replaces the main meal. On the other hand, health awareness has substantially increased since social media and its commercials are providing more and more information in the field of health and nutrition. The knowledge of deficiencies and therapies has never been as transparent as it is today. Eating habits depend more and more in the amount and quality of ingredients. The ingredients list as well as the gram-specification of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins is often decisive for today’s purchase decision.


In this whole interaction of one-sided nutrition on one hand and the knowledge of targeted supplements on the other, certain products with nutrition additions and functional effects to the human organism as e.g. vitamins, minerals, supplements, natural extracts, omega 3-acids - just to mention a few - have acquired a considerable market segment. The „boring“ fizzy tablet or gel capsule which initially only met with modest approval now gets the look of a fruity gum or jelly: an emotional upgrading and a much more attractive application.


Figuratively it is the symbiosis between the high acceptance of sweets and the special health benefits of the supplements which lead to this success. Snacking can help make you healthy.The way towards a pharmaceutical product is already paved. Even today, apart from supplements, also OTC medicines as melatonin (to cure sleeping problems) hyaluronic acid (joint pains) and cannabis oils CBD are added to fruit gums.


In countries were THC has been legalized (Canada and some states in the US) fruit gum applications as well with intoxicating effects of THC play an increasing role. Experiments regarding the application of "painkillers" such as paracetamol or Ibuprofen are already taking place on laboratory levels. It is only a matter of time before such products are approved by FDA or EMA.


Classical fruit gum production is done with a Mogul plant, where a cooked sugar mass is deposited in dry starch powder.   In this traditional production process, the starch powder, mainly consisting out of cornstarch acts as a shaper, dehumidifier and starter of crystallization. With the withdrawal of humidity out of the masses all water-soluble ingredients are discharged in a quite reasonable proportion and absorbed and enriched by the starch powder. Since the starch powder is dried in a separate circuit and re-used, it cannot be excluded that discharged ingredients are transferred to other manufacturing processes and thus to other products. This transfer is called cross contamination and it does not correspond with the strict hygienic rules and the GMP principles of an OTC fruit gum production: the main reason why more and more companies turn towards the starchless production technology.


As soon as the products show a higher dosage of functional ingredients having an impact on the human organism and the manufacturer is responsible for their purity and concentration as declared, the Mogul technology is no longer acceptable and applicable. Production has to be done with stable molds, which have to be cleaned after using and before every product change, so that a cross contamination as described above can be excluded. As an alternative silicone or polycarbonate molds can be used, as well as a production directly into blister (Made in Pack).


For a couple of years now starchless production technology with silicone molds has been used very successfully for the manufacturing of toffees, fondant and pectin jellies - mainly in Eastern Europe, the successor states of the former Soviet Union and many Arabic Countries. Since these products have traditionally the same shape and are partly very big and heavy (10-15 g) this technology could establish very strongly. The savings for starch powder conditioning plants and drying rooms stand opposite to the rather high mold costs. The molds need a sufficient stability, because after cooling the confectionery products have to be demolded out of the silicone mold.


Therefore, silicone molds have a stainless-steel core with corresponding cuttings for the product cavities as well as a compact surrounding plastic frame. Because of the cuttings rather large distances occur between the cavities, which leads to a limited product layout per mold and thus to a limited production capacity. Especially with smaller products such as OTC products this disadvantage shows clearly. Research and development over years showed that the silicone material itself is permeable for certain raw materials such as fats, alcohol and aromatic hydrocarbon compounds, as they appear in natural extracts and flavors. This leads to an absorption of those substances and - strictly seen - a cross contamination cannot be totally excluded. Those migrating substances are also responsible for a fast wear of the silicone, resulting in a loss of elasticity and a high vulnerability for cracks.


With the development of fast gelling gelatin (that means a stable structure which can be de-molded after 30 to 45 minutes) the road for a starchless production of fruit gums has been paved.

 

For five years now, plant manufacturers work on the molding process for gummies or other products with an appealing chewing habit. Apart from silicone molds also Teflon coated aluminum molds are used in order to pass the high elastic and sticky gum masses to an attractive shape: From the hygienic point of view a disaster! Apart from the metal residues and the bad cleaning possibilities also an easy handling of the molds (e.g. mold changing) is not possible since they are mainly mounted firmly to the transport chain. In such manufacturing plants products are often blown out of the molds by an unfiltered air stream. Demolding is done without any order and is furthermore rather expensive because of the high consumption of compressed air.


The rapidly growing market for OTC gums and jellies with its high demands for hygienic production plants Winkler und Dünnebier Süßwarenmaschinen GmbH  (WDS) has developed a new direction regarding the molding processes.


While a few years ago silicone technology with all its limits was clearly favored, a change towards polycarbonate molds allowed the development of a completely new, modern, clean and highly efficient plant technology for fruit gum manufacturing, which has its roots in the molding of confectioneries and chocolates. Globally, WDS is the only machinery manufacturer, who has been extremely successful in building molding plants for confectioneries and chocolates for decades. This versatility together with a deep knowledge concerning complex molding processes have now created a modern generation of starchless molding plants for gums and jellies which set new standards according to efficiency, hygiene, and product treatment.


deposited mass in polycarbonate molds-WDS.jpg

Deposited mass in polycarbonate molds


At first glance, the plant layout is similar to a praline - or bar- molding plant in single- or two-lane execution. However, at a second glance it is clear that a few important and new processes have to be integrated for OTC gummy production. With the coating of the molds with a waxing oil, the quick depositing of the masses with a maximum protection of the ingredients and the clean and orderedly demolding results without damaging the product. Proven processes as efficient mold cooling, automatic mold weighing and changing, mold deduction by shift register or the ejection of polluted or damaged molds have been taken as well-known standards from the chocolate manufacturing plants.


The advantage of polycarbonate molds lies first of all in the very narrow product layout and   increased production capacity together with low investment costs. Polycarbonate molds in the right composition are more resistant to alcoholic and aromatic hydrocarbon compounds and most of all to all the surfactants weakening the durability of the molds with every washing process. 


The handling inside the plant is more compatible thanks to their lighter weight; complex product shapes are easier to implement and porosity as well as absorption and release of product substances can be eliminated up to 100%. In order to demold the gums and jellies residue-free after cooling and curing, the molds have to be precisely sprayed with waxing oil before depositing. This coating is done in WDS plants in a separate spraying unit and is always done cavity related. 10mg of waxing oil in maximum, spread all over the cavities, are sufficient to de-mold the product without problems.


Dwell time inside normal hoppers of production plants have an average heat holding time of absolutely 20 minutes. This is a demand ten-times higher, which is surely not suitable for the naturals extracts and -colors and the vitamins. One has to count definitely with a brown color and a reduction. Furthermore, the “First-in – First-out” grants a constantly high product quality which is rather changing in a hopper. Product manufacturers for human well-being have the duty to correspond with certain declared values and thus have to grant a high product quality. Anybody being aware of that should take no compromise concerning his product technology. Concerning the cleaning the direct supply of the depositor to the cooking equipment shows the advantage, that kitchen and depositor can be cleaned together in one CIP-circuit as one unit. It saves time and energy and is much more efficient.


The core of a starchless plant is with no doubt the depositor. The machine, the cooked sugar masses are then precisely deposited into the molds. Depending on recipes and raw materials, temperatures of 80° to nearly 100° C do occur. Therefore, it is absolutely an advantage to deposit directly into the pre-cooled mold in order to protect the molds on the one hand and to cool the masses faster on the other hand. The added functional ingredients will be thankful for that! But a simple “thank you” is not sufficient. If the manufacturing process of hygienic produced fruit gums with temperature sensitive ingredients shall be done gentle and successful, the heated depositing mass with the ingredients must be deposited and cooled as fast as possible. For this reason, WDS has developed a depositor that works without a mass hopper and with a direct mass supply. “First-in First-out” with a maximum heat holding time of less than two minutes grants a high quality, so that an overdosing of expensive ingredients becomes needless.


First in – first out – Inline depositor-WDS.jpg

First in – first out – Inline depositor


After depositing, product cooling is done immediately within the molds, with the cold coming directly from each side. With WDS plants there is no staking of the molds with large time delays and accumulate heat. Cooling is done under climatic regulated and dry conditions. While pectin products can be demolded already after 15 to 20 minutes, gelatin products need approx. double time. A sophisticated plant technology enables the cooling of pectin -and gelatin products in the same machine.


After cooling, demolding is done: a rather important and absolutely critical step of technology. While most plant manufacturers of starchless plants prefer a mechanical demolding with brushes or air streams, WDS relies on an already patented Pick&Place procedure that treats the products quite gentle. There is no mechanical wear of neither products nor molds. Furthermore, a sticking of the products because of a non-coated upper surface is impossible during demolding. The picker even de-molds the most complicated shapes with steep side walls. In case of high plants speed even two picking-stations can be arranged side by side. After being extracted from the molds, the fruit gums are placed in regimented formation on a belt which transports the products either towards a final oiling or a continuous sugaring or powdering (rice starch, citrus fiber).


starchless product variety.jpg

Starchless product variety


Meanwhile the molds run via an optical control and an automatic mold changing unit back to the spraying unit to restart a new production cycle. The manufacturing of OTC products within the WDS-concept is done in a closed production circuit, at one place, in a production clean room. A multiple handling of the molds or an ejection for cleaning-, storage- or demolding purposes is not necessary. This saves time and space and refers to highest hygienic requirements. Such a manufacturing process leads to a production capacity of up to 1 million fruit gums per hour, apart from the PRO-high-performance plants resulting in up to 3 tons fruit gums and jellies per hour, WDS delivers with its ECO-line complete solutions even for smaller production needs in the area of 200 to 800 kg per hour. Furthermore, for product development WDS offers pilot plants for all important process steps which enable a direct upscale to production scale.


OTC-products build the bridge to a completely new plant technology for gums and jellies. The conjunction between confectionery, food and medicine is closed.


Photos courtesy of WDS




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