FOOD PROCESSING

Fruit and vegetables continue to “live” even after they are picked, giving rise to rather complex chemical reactions.

Transpiration, respiration and maturation phenomena are factors that affect the methods for using refrigeration for their preservation and deep-freezing.

MF always tries to apply REFRIGERATION in the most appropriate manner in order to make the product last longer while keeping the quality unchanged.

Hence, our company specialises in the installation of the following systems:

• Pre-cooling
• Blast chillers, including the VACUUM type (through vacuum technology)
• Preservation in controlled atmosphere
• Deep-freezing
• Preservation at low temperatures

We have been present for decades in a large number of companies that process milk and/or its by-products, paying special attention to the necessary technologies and processing methods in order to comply with the stringent health regulations that govern the sector.

REFRIGERATION applications constantly follow the milk processing chain in all its phases:

• cooling of the milk delivered at the milk plant, by means of systems, usually with Nh3, equipped with ice accumulation tanks, in order to compensate for the considerable refrigerant power required in very short time periods.
• Preservation of milk that has already been packaged and is ready for distribution, in temperature-controlled environments.
• Air conditioning of the premises where different types of cheeses are made – aged – stored.
• The raw material, in other words milk, is also used to make ice cream, a process where REFRIGERATION is highly important and which MF follows down to every detail, from the cooling of the mixes to their freezing by means of suitable tunnels, to the preservation in low-temperature refrigerating rooms.

The better fresh food products are preserved, the more they are appreciated. MF is well aware of this and it is the reason why it designs systems that do not alter the characteristics that affect the quality of the product.

Hence, it is important to skilfully manage the physical-chemical phenomenon of rigidity and maturation in order to prevent the development of contaminating micro-organisms.

The basic concept is that REFRIGERATION must be applied as early as possible, from the moment the animal is put down until the product reaches the final user, at the right temperature.

The aforementioned principles pertaining to meat must be applied even more for fish, since it perishes very quickly.

In the fish industry, the cycle starts right on the fishing boat and continues at the mainland companies for the processing. REFRIGERATION is thus necessary for ice production in order to keep the fresh fish at a temperature of 0°/+1°C, and for the freezing and preservation at a low temperature.

Application of REFRIGERATION in the cold cut industry can be subdivided as follows:

• Quick cooling of the slaughtered meat hung on hooks.
• Preservation of the meat and fresh products ready to be processed.
• Salting-hardening-freezing-preservation processes.
• Cooling of the rooms where the processing takes place.

Special attention is paid to air treatment, especially during the final product processing phases, such as DRYING and AGEING.

For all the phases described above, we have fine-tuned procedures and processing methods that are particularly appreciated by our customers.

In this sector, REFRIGERATION is necessary to stop the fermentation processes.

During beer production, refrigerant systems of considerable size are needed compared to those employed for the production of wine and carbonated beverages.

In all the cases described above, the refrigerant systems are developed to cool down an intermediate fluid, such as: water or blend of fluids that are circulated in secondary exchangers or cooling vats.

The large-size systems designed and built by MF for this application are all based on ammonia.