www.newfoodmagazine.com Issue 1 · 2017

Foodfraud Food fraud prevention – how to start and howmuch is enough? Datasharing: What’s in it forthe food industry? Plus an expert column withThermo Fisher Scientific

Processing Food grade lubricants

– the way forward. And cookquench chill operation for

noodles, pasta and rice

Analysis LAMP for food microbiology testing, Best practice for crystallisation kineticsmeasurements via NMR, and MyToolBox – the smart way to tackle mycotoxins

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The company is headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany and was initially founded in 1951 by Hans Reiner. Originally called Hans Reiner KG, in 1975 the company merged with the Fuchs Group.There were further acquisitions up until 1996, when the company finallybecame FUCHS LUBRITECH GmbH.

The company currently employs more than 500 employees and its specialty lubricants are available in more than 70 countriesaround the world.

Preventing risk of contamination is especially important with food grade lubricants. What advice do you give to your end-users?Care must be taken when applying lubricants to ensure that any excess isimmediately removed from the application area (e.g. grease nipple or oilfiller) so that there is no risk of the excess lubricant getting transferred tothe product.

Conducting LCCP (Lubrication Critical Control Points) surveys atcustomer sites, staff training and technical support are the mostimportant services we offer to our customers supported by acomprehensive and technically advanced portfolio of food gradelubricants. This is a valuable addition to a well maintained HACCPsystem in place.

Clients can improve food safety, rationalise their lubricants portfolio,reduce costs and protect their brand.

What advantages do certifications such as ISO 21469 offer?ISO 21469 is a certification process that adds another level of safety andsecurity to food grade lubricants as it not only takes into account theformulation of the lubricant itself but also assesses the manufacturingprocess, traceability of ingredients, and the strict hygiene standardsthroughout all stages of the process.

Although the same production facilities can be used for food gradelubricants as well as standard products, more stringent rules are appliedin order to achieve the highest purity levels and avoid the possibility ofcross contamination.

The ISO 21469 consists of a full risk assessment for the entirelubricant manufacturing plant and a physical yearly audit, whichincludes formulation review, process review and sample taking andtesting. Therefore, ISO 21469 represents today the highest standard forfood safety, specifically dedicated to manufacturing and handling of food grade lubricants.

In turn this means that when the food manufacturing plant is

audited for food safety according to IFS, ISO 22000 or others byorganisations such as the BRC, TÜV, SGS or a major customer, theauditors will immediately recognise that the lubricants in use are of the highest safety standard and can be eliminated as potential chemicalor physical hazard sources in the plant’s HACCP.

What are the key concerns that your food grade lubricant clients raise?Compared to one or two decades ago the relatively high price of foodgrade lubricants is not a real issue anymore. It seems that clients in themeantime have understood, that there are many additional price driversin place regarding food grade lubricants (e.g. registration andcertification, religious compliances, GMO and allergens absence and notto forget the more expensive R&D costs, due to the restrictions set bygovernmental bodies).

Often higher prices can become equalised by energy and mainten -ance cost savings, especially by using synthetic food grade lubricants.

Currently the topic of MOH (Mineral Oil Hydrocarbons) contaminationof foodstuff results in a lot of confusion and uncertainty amongst clients.Not understanding the chemistry of lubricants (not everybody is achemist) and the ‘hype’ generated by consumer organisations are notreally helpful to get a clear picture of the topic.

Beside that it is well known amongst experts that MOH contami -nation of foodstuff in almost all cases is not due to lubricants but due to other contamination sources.

What do you predict will be the key developments for the food grade lubricants industry in the future?Although technology is changing and developing pretty fast these days,lubrication as such might not change in the same manner, not today andnot in the mid-term future.

In a longer term the ‘MOH hysteria’ might result in more food gradelubricants based on either native base fluids or synthetics which do notconsist of any hydrocarbons. However these types of lubricants will beeither significantly more expensive or worse regarding their performanceas lubricants.

Beside this there is an ongoing activity by food manufacturers toapply similar safety precautions to their suppliers, especially packagingand food additives.

This will certainly extend the use of food grade lubricants but withoutdrastic impact to the lubricant technology/formulation of existingproduct portfolios.

New Food, Volume 20, Issue 1, 2017 64 www.newfoodmagazine.com

A D V E R T O R I A L

Eduard StempfelGlobal Product Managerand Application Specialist,FUCHS LUBRITECH GmbH

Within the FUCHS Group of Companies, FUCHS LUBRITECH forms its own division dedicated towards highly specialisedlubricants for the most demanding applications.

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