In the Snack Food Industry moisture measurements are important for quality reasons.  The taste, texture, appearance, and shelf life of final products are affected by the amount of moisture they contains.  Food products tend to gain even more moisture while in storage, which leads to rapid product deterioration.  High moisture content in finished foods can result in moldy products and customer complaints. 

The most prevalent moisture analysis method used by the Food Industry is oven drying.  Samples of the product are taken and weighed.  The samples are then placed into an oven at a specific temperature for a pre-determined amount of time.  Each product time is different and determined by the manufacturer from previous tests.  The time is supposed to be long enough for 100% of the moisture to evaporate.   The product needs to remain in the oven for hours, sometimes up to 24 hours.  More expensive vacuum ovens can be used to decrease the time down to a typical 3-6 hours per test.  Once the samples have lost all of their moisture in the oven, they are weighed again.  The difference of the final weight subtracted from the initial weight is the moisture content of the sample. The % moisture can then be calculated.

% Moisture  = Initial Sample weight – Final Sample Weight  x 100
Initial sample weight

There are many negative aspects of using the oven drying procedure to measure moisture; the sample is destroyed, laboratory personnel and equipment are required, and human error is always a factor.  The largest downfall with oven drying is the time it takes to determine the % moisture.  If hours pass before determining the finished product is sub-quality, many more sub-quality products have been made.  Thousands of dollars have been wasted on raw ingredients, and a lot of time is lost.  It is imperative that adjustments to conditioners and dryers be made immediately in order to reduce the loss.  Hours later and the final product may have already shipped out to customers.  A slow and/or inaccurate moisture measurement method jeopardizes a food manufacturer of many rejected batches which waste thousands of dollars, or even worse, of losing customers.

Forté Industry Solution
Forté Technology has designed moisture measurement systems for the specific needs of food manufacturers.  The Forté method measures 100% of the product.  Forté Systems are commonly used to measure the moisture of finished snack food product.

Small samples of products such as nuts, raisins, or waffle cones are tested in the 4000 series.  Larger individual products can be measured in the 7000 series.  An online 2000 series system is also available for some products, depending upon size, packaging, and configuration. 
Yarn Carton
Forté Series 4610

By knowing the actual moisture of the finished product immediately after it is produced, the manufacturing process can be more easily controlled.  Manufacturers are able to achieve more consistent quality products. No other method of moisture measurement is as fast, thorough and accurate. Forté systems calculate weight and % moisture quickly and precisely. A Forté moisture/weight measuring system allows you to increase yield, stop 'invisible' loss, and ensure proper quality control.

Forté Systems accomplish this in one second or less by means of a harmless electromagnetic field which passes through 100% of your product without contact. Forté Systems have the CE Mark of approval in the European Community. This method is now used by food, textile, pulp, rubber and other manufacturers in more than 40 countries. A Forté System increases yield, productivity, quality and profits. It pays for itself in a few months.



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