The highest quality for the best flavour: this is what the Austrian company Almi stands for, which provides the unmistakable taste of soups, sausages and other industrially produced foods with several hundred different spice blends. To ensure the high quality standards at all stages of production, Almi sterilises the raw spices itself. BHS-Sonthofen supplied the complete system for this, consisting of pneumatic filling, a vertical BHS steriliser and a horizontal BHS cooler.

The product quality of foodstuffs and their raw materials depends on the conditions under which they are produced, transported, packaged and stored. Spices pose a particular challenge in this respect: They often come from countries with high temperatures, high humidity and low hygiene standards. In order to ensure food safety and consistently high product quality, it is therefore particularly important to significantly reduce the germ load of the spices by decontamination.

Decontamination through dynamic spice sterilisation

Killing germs with steam is the safest and only biological method. In contrast to other methods, it is completely harmless to health and preserves the quality of the spices. BHS has developed dynamic spice sterilisation in order to optimally preserve flavours and other positive product properties. It enables the product-specific treatment of ground and whole spices. The spices remain in motion throughout the entire process. All particles are treated with the same intensity, which enables very short sterilisation times. Colour, aroma and flavour are fully preserved. After sterilisation, the hot spices must cool down quickly. This takes place in a sterile spice cooler. The system can be optimally cleaned to effectively prevent the regrowth of germs after sterilisation.

BHS sterilisation technology successfully put into operation at Almi

Almi has been using BHS mixers in various sizes for many years in the production of its wide range of spice mixes. Extensive tests in the BHS technical centre have shown that the treatment of Almi products with BHS sterilisation technology produces the desired results. The system, which has been customised in many details to meet customer requirements, was recently delivered and successfully put into operation.