Food & Beverage

Food Grade Adsorption Across the Sector

The food and beverage sector relies on food grade adsorbent media for the colour, taste, and aroma duties that define product quality, and on inert gas for blanketing and packaging that defines product shelf life. SorbiTech supplies the SorbiTech food grade activated carbon (powdered, pellet, and granular forms), the carbon molecular sieve for on site nitrogen generation, and the silica gel for instrument and packaged goods desiccation. Every grade is released against documented food contact compliance: FDA approval where required, EU Regulation 10/2011 compliance, Halal and Kosher eligibility on the standard grades.

Sugar and Syrup Decolorization

Cane and beet sugar processing generates colour bodies (caramels, melanoidins, polyphenols) during the boiling and crystallisation stages. SorbiTech PAC is dosed into the contact tank at the affination stage, given a controlled residence time, then filtered out together with the captured colour bodies. The treated syrup meets the contracted ICUMSA colour grade (typically 45 IU for white sugar, 100 to 300 IU for refined sugars) consistently across production seasons. Grade selection follows a laboratory decolorization test on the actual stream, not the iodine number alone.

Edible Oil Bleaching

Crude vegetable oils (palm, sunflower, soybean, canola) require decolorization to remove chlorophyll, carotenoids, and oxidation products before refining. The PAC bleaching grade is dosed at 0.5 to 2 percent by weight at the bleaching tower, given 20 to 30 minutes of residence time at 100 to 110 °C, then filtered with bleaching earth as the filter aid. The combined PAC plus bleaching earth dose targets a residual chlorophyll below the contracted limit for the refined oil grade.

Beverage Carbon Dioxide Purification

Food grade CO₂ for carbonated soft drinks, beer, and sparkling water must meet ISBT (International Society of Beverage Technologists) purity guidelines: sulphur compounds below 0.1 ppm, total volatile hydrocarbons below 20 ppm, aromatic hydrocarbons below 20 ppb. A SorbiTech pellet activated carbon guard bed at the CO₂ purification unit captures the trace contaminants before the gas reaches the beverage line, protecting consumer safety and product taste.

On Site Nitrogen for Blanketing and Packaging

Wine vessels, beer fermenters, dairy tanks, edible oil storage, and modified atmosphere packaging all require nitrogen blanketing or sparging to displace oxygen and preserve flavour. A SorbiTech PSA nitrogen generation package charged with CMS N₂ grade delivers 99.5 to 99.9 percent purity at the contracted flow, removing the cost and logistics of delivered cylinder gas. Payback is typically under 24 months for continuous demand.

Food Contact Compliance and Documentation

Every shipment is released with a certificate of analysis covering the food grade specification: heavy metals, ash, moisture, iodine, decolorization, and microbial load where applicable. Halal and Kosher eligibility is held on the standard grades; FDA and EU Regulation 10/2011 documentation is supplied per project. The SorbiTech specification team handles the regulatory documentation that the food processor needs for HACCP and ISO 22000 compliance.