Author: rob

IAOM Milling Operative of the Year.

Kelly O’Brien, director of milling operations at Rogers Foods, Ltd., Armstrong, B.C., is the 2017 recipient of the International Association of Operative Millers (IAOM) Milling Operative of the Year award. The award was presented during the IAOM Annual Banquet & Awards Ceremony in New Orleans, as part of IAOM’s 121st Annual Conference & Expo.

Established in 1986 by Milling & Baking News, the award is given to the practicing milling operative who has made the most significant contribution to the progress of a plant, a company and the industry from an operating point of view.

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First-gen Students Graduate at Puratos Bakery Schools
The first generation of 11 graduates recently finished training at the Puratos Bakery School in São Paolo. The students, aged 17 to 21, received their “Professional Qualification for Bakery, Confectionery and Chocolate,” and are the first graduates of the program at the Puratos Bakery School in Brazil. They each completed 828 hours of training over two years, and received the necessary theoretical knowledge in the areas of baking, patisserie, and chocolate. They all also followed practical training in the pilot plants and laboratories of Senai Horácio Augusto da Silveira.

The school in São Paolo is the second education project undertaken by Puratos. The company launched the first education project in India, where Puratos has operated since 2008. The graduates’ employment status speaks of the program’s success: 95% of students work for either Puratos or one of its clients. The second classes will graduate in summer 2017, among which 80% have already been offered a job.

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The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has invented a device to help farmers in the developing world determine the moisture content of their grain in storage, thereby preventing losses from insects, spoilage and mould. Called the Post-Harvest Loss (PHL) moisture meter, it costs only about $75 to make, using “off-the-shelf” components.

In the developing world, large bags rather than bins or silos are used to store grains such as corn. Farmers in Ethiopia, Guatemala, Bangladesh and Ghana are evaluating the meter as part of a US Agency for International Development project.

Achieving a clean label in baked foods may involve removing artificial flavors, colors and preservatives. It also may mean omitting complex multi-syllablic words from the ingredient list or avoiding the use of bioengineered/GMO ingredients. Ingredient suppliers may assist with all those issues through a multitude of alternative ingredients and systems, some new to the market.

Proprietary product development research from Dawn Food Products found 57% of consumers said they were willing to pay more for foods with no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. The company also cited Nielsen data showing consumers said they were willing to pay 20% to 30% more for clean label items. “While perceptions do vary across the consumer audiences, for most, clean label and transparency mean products with the fewest ingredients that aren’t harmful or overly processed,” said Kathy Sargent, market director, bakery for Corbion. “So it’s key for bakery manufacturers to develop products that offer simpler, more transparent labels that consumers can easily understand and that still meet their expectations on taste, quality and freshness.”

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The UK government’s leading low carbon agency Carbon Trust (CT) has issued a report stating, “Energy savings available within bakeries can be significant due to the high energy consumption of baking itself, which costs an average bakery £335,000 per year”. “Ovens are responsible for 35 to 45 percent of total site carbon emissions,” and in a typical direct-fired gas oven, “hot air exiting the flues is responsible for around 20 percent of gas use. This makes no contribution to heating bread dough and is a direct loss.”

CT experts provide measures recommended for cutting energy loss and some examples of successful energy saving measures at bakeries around the world are provided in this article.

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