Food & Beverage Industry Case Studies
Off-Color Food Product
After receiving customer complaints of a yellow banana-flavored popsicle turning brown, a food manufacturer asked Chemir to investigate. Using SPME GC/MS, the brand’s different popsicle flavors were screened against one another and the suspect off-colored popsicle. The off-colored popsicle was found to contain isoamyl acetate (banana oil) and methyl anthranilate (a component of artificial grape flavor). Chemir’s scientists concluded that the ingredients of the manufacturer’s grape popsicles were contaminating the banana popsicle ingredients, thus creating a hybrid brown popsicle.
Food Packaging Leaching
A frozen food manufacturer came to Chemir to determine if their “in-the-bag-cooking” packaging was contaminating the food during microwave cooking. Our expert scientists first analyzed the packaging and then the microwave food samples. Two components from the packaging were found to migrate into the food tested. One served as a flame retardant and the second as a plasticizer. We then helped the client find a new packaging source that did not exhibit leaching, allowing them to resume production.
Food Contamination Identification
A food manufacturer received complaints that their blocks of processed meat products were turning green at the corners. Our analytical approach began with an extraction of the residue, followed by analysis by FTIR to generically identify organic compounds, as well as SEM/EDXA to provide a qualitative determination of inorganic elements. The investigation concluded that detectable levels of antioxidants were found in the meat product as a result of contamination from the plastic packaging. The client was able to change their packaging materials to keep color consistency.