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Filtration in the food and beverage industry is a critical part of the process. String wound filters and other industrial filters play an important part.

Filtration keeps foods fresher, prolongs a snack’s shelf life, keeps beverages from spoiling too soon, and helps our veggies to taste and smell more palatable. Filtration plays a critical role in maintaining food processing equipment, including protection of RO membranes used in preparation of potable water or concentration of flavors.

Potable water is a critical ingredient in many foodstuffs such as reconstituted juices, and is also used for washing and rinsing of vegetables, meats, etc. and equipment, and can be used for dilution of concentrated cleaning chemicals. Any filtration steps applicable to “potable water” are also useful in the food and beverage industry. A recent issue of our newsletter explained how a manufacturer of salads improved the smell of their product by using activated carbon filters from Delta Pure Filtration on their rinse water.

Submicron rated filters are often used to remove spoilage organisms. Even extending shelf life by 3 days can, in many cases, provide enormous economic value to the food manufacturer, the entire distribution channel, and ultimately to the consumer.

As consumers, we often associate food with the final ingested products. There are “behind the scenes” fluids that are also filtered, such as flavorings, enzymes, and nutrients. These ingredients are often made by a chemical or biotech company and sold to the food manufacturer. Utility fluids such as water, compressed air, HVAC air, steam, and even the ink used to print labels are all filtered. Of these utility fluids, Delta Pure Filtration is currently most involved with water.

It is important to select materials that are qualified for contact with foodstuffs. In the USA a common approach is to select materials that are “FDA Listed” in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21.  Many filters from Delta Pure Filtration are made using FDA Listed materials, and these filters are used throughout the food and beverage industry –including some very famous brands!

Manufacturers of foods, from vitamin-laden health foods to sugar-infused candy, are required by regulation to plan ahead to prevent potential problems. Food manufacturers worldwide engage in “HACCP” – often pronounced “hassip” – which stands for “Hazards Analysis and Critical Control Points.” HACCP is a management system for assuring food safety advocated by the World Health Organization and many local governments.   In the USA for example, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires the analysis and control of any hazard, whether biological, chemical, or physical in the entire food process, including  raw material production, procurement and handling,  manufacturing, distribution and even the consumption of the finished product. While some food production plants will rely on the quality of a municipal water supply, others will decide that HACCP compels them to implement additional filtration and purification on their water at the POU (point of use), for example.

Here is a partial list of some of the ways cartridge filters are used in the food and beverage industry:

Goal	Product	Filtration Process
Improve taste and remove odor	activated carbon filterCN04 Series– A string wound pre-filter section over an activated carbon impregnated nonwoven sectionDCB Series – A string wound pre-filter section over a coconut carbon blockDWC Series– Activated carbon impregnated nonwoven filterCCB Series Filters – Activated coconut carbon block	remove molecular contaminants
De-colorization	activated carbon filterCN04 Series– A string wound pre-filter section over an activated carbon impregnated nonwoven sectionDCB Series – A string wound pre-filter section over a coconut carbon blockDWC Series– Activated carbon impregnated nonwoven filterCCB Series Filters – Activated coconut carbon block	remove natural organic pigments
Increase shelf life	Pleated filterPPA Series  – Absolute rated pleated polypropylene filters	remove spoilage organisms
Visual clarity	Depth filter or pleated filterMB series meltblown polypropyleneDW Series string wound filters and PPA Series pleated polypropylene absolute rated filters	Remove sediment and particles
Prepare wash water	Pleated filter, carbon filters: PPA Series pleated polypropylene absolute rated filters, CN04, DCB, DWC, and CCB Series activated carbon filters	Removing organisms, and/or odor-causing molecular contaminants
Protect membranes	MB series meltblown polypropyleneDW Series string wound filtersDHF Series Multi Pleat High Flow filter cartridges	Remove membrane fouling particles that reduce flow and decrease flux through RO and nanofiltration membranes.