FNB News - "We aim at solutions offering more than food safety"

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INTERVIEW

"We aim at solutions offering more than food safety"

Monday, 07 March, 2016, 08 : 00 AM [IST]

Nandita Vijay

Bengaluru-based Kluber Lubrication is now gearing up to strengthen its position in the food industry. The company advocates that all food and beverage producers use only H1 lubricants and complement them by a service package like ‘Klüber Efficiency Support’ consisting of comprehensive training on lubricants and lubrication management including the creation of lubrication charts, optimising lubricants. The company is part of the Munich-based Freudenberg Chemical Specialities which provides quality lubricants, thorough consultation and extensive services, which have earned it an excellent reputation in the market. The company holds industrial certifications and operates a test bay hardly rivalled in the lubricants industry. In an email interaction, Manjesh Babu, global food technology manager, Klüber Lubrication, provides a perspective on the sector and the company to Nandita Vijay. Excerpts:

Provide us a global perspective on the use of lubrication in the food and beverage sector.
In general, the usage and awareness of food grade lubricants is growing worldwide. This is partly due to some strict internal food safety policies of the company and in some cases it is driven through government regulations. The recent food scandal in many parts of the world has only made it even more important to avoid contaminations from all possible sources.

The US and European market traditionally has been using food grade lubricants for many decades and hence are the biggest markets. Though the consumption of processed foods is increasing in Asia and other parts of the world, the general awareness about lubricants as a source of contamination has picked up only now and the strict compliance to using them is yet to follow in many countries.

How has your company fared in this segment of food and beverage?
Klüber Lubrication is the market leader for food machinery lubricants. We are working with many food equipment manufacturers and are instrumental in introducing new concepts in the specialty lubricants market. For example Bariertal 55/2 was one of the first product to be approved in the wafer baking oven application which goes up to 250 degree celsius temperature and our product Paraliq GTE 793 is recommended by most of the leading beverage manufacturers for the EPDM seal application.

We also work with many global food manufacturers more as a partner to support their food safety related activities rather than being just a lubricant supplier.

What are the innovative solutions emerging from your stables for the food & beverage industry?
Our objective is to serve food customers with lubrication solutions which offer more than food safety. We go beyond supplying food machinery products with NSF certification. We work closely with our customers and support them in lubrication related tasks through lubrications points mapping, identifying CCP (critical control points) for contamination with lubricants and providing the right kind of lubrication solutions. The company works jointly to monitor the performance of lubricants through periodic monitoring and testing. It is also engaged in training the operators in usage of lubricants and equip them to manage certain lubrication related tasks independently.

Our R&D centre is constantly working with OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) as well as end- customers, looking at developing innovative sustainable solutions that deliver high performance. For instance, the company has developed a foam spray for the food processing industry combining the advantage of foam and oil.

Give us a peek into global food regulations with regards to lubrication.
There are international standards set by agencies like the USFDA, NSF, ISO, BSI etc. which are popular and set the standards for food manufacturers, as well as the lubricant manufacturing process.

The USFDA has listed out substances that can be used and should not be used while manufacturing a lubricant that has the possibilities of having incidental contact with the food. The National Sanitation Foundation International, a non-profit public health organization issues NSF certification for lubricants. In addition, lubricants acceptable for incidental food contact are identified or categorized as H1 lubricants.

ISO has also developed a voluntary standard for lubricants. The ISO 21469 is the safety norm of machinery. Lubricants with incidental product contact has hygiene requirements and a - certification programme which is much more comprehensive. It specifies the hygiene requirements for the formulation, manufacture, use and handling of lubricants, which may come into contact with products during manufacturing or processing. The product certification process will involve formulation and label review, auditing, risk assessment, and product testing. This standard ISO 21469 is a norm that considers the life cycle of the lubricant from manufacture through to storage and application by the food manufacturer.

How prevalent are concepts like centralised lubrication systems in food and beverage industry?
There are many applications in food and beverage industry which already have in-built CLS (centralised lubrication systems) to lubricate many lubrication points.

For example: Many intricate lubrication points in filling machine or blow moulding machine is lubricated through CLS. Many of the new generation machines either go for CLS or automatic lubricators in order to provide a convenient way of making sure the lubricant is periodically reaching the friction points.

What is the competition for you in India?
There are a lot of companies which are producing lubricants for this industry and with rise in demand for food grade lubricants there are many suppliers which have mushroomed with a food grade lubricants and NSF certificate. But there are only few players who are certified according to ISO 21469 and which have a wide range of NSF H1 approved products coupled with comprehensive services to offer a sustainable lubrication solution to the customer.

Going forward how do you intend to maximise the growth opportunities?
Our aim is to work with all stakeholders covering the entire gamut of food manufacturers, machinery suppliers and government agencies responsible for food safety legislation to bring awareness on lubricants as source of contaminants. Generally lubricants in India are considered as low priority item which makes it challenging to draw the attention of customers.

By working closely with all stakeholders and bringing together our decades of experience in developing food machinery lubricants we hope to contribute towards food safety and thereby also support the growth of food machinery lubricants.