PET Food Processing - June 2019 - 20

PLANT PROFILE

A Vemag extruder
from Reiser formed
this batch into meatballs before the treats
were placed on trays
and cooked on racks
in Alkar batch ovens.

protein content and, most importantly, the shape itself."
The trays used for organic products are segregated, as
is production. Each day starts with the "cleanest" products because everything has been cleaned and sanitized
the shift before. Products with ingredients considered to
be allergens run at the end of every day.
During baking and prior to cooling, oven operators
test the product for moisture and water activity. Once a
batch is fully cooked and cooled, it must be tested again
by the quality department.
Phelps recently upgraded its product testing devices to
include a moisture analyzer from Arizona Instruments,
Inc., Chandler, Arizona. Aqualab TDL instruments from
Meter Group, Pullman, Washington, measure water activity in samples.
"For new items we do a comparison between the new
moisture analyzer and an oven test just to make sure we
are accurate with our readings," says Maria Fessler, quality manager. "We clean and calibrate our testing equipment every shift to make sure they are holding calibration and are reading correctly."
Samples from each batch are tested for quality. No
product moves on to cutting and packaging that hasn't
been cleared by quality. "We spend a lot of time making
sure that the product never gets to come over into the
packaging side of the building until quality control says
it can come over here," Bartuska explains.
The next step is cutting the product to the specified

PET FOOD PROCESSING | June 2019 | www.petfoodprocessing.net

length. This extra step is added for efficiency which
might sound strange. Additional steps don't usually
equate to increased efficiency but for Phelps, oven
efficiency is the priority. Products cook in the ovens
between four and 28 hours depending on the product and, by not cutting product to its finished size
and dehydrating uniformed lengths instead, the company maximizes the amount of product on each tray
and achieves more overall output from the ovens.
Phelps has three cutters, two from Urschel, Chesterton,
Indiana, and one from Eaglestone, St. Charles, Illinois.
After product is cut to size it moves on to packaging. Phelps currently has four packaging lines: two
form-fill-seal systems from Heat and Control, Hayward,
California; one Roberts IMP Series pre-made bag line
from AlliedFlex Technologies, Sarasota, Florida; and
a new high-speed form-fill-seal packaging line from
Mamata, Montgomery, Illinois.
Product comes into the packaging area in tubs and is
manually spread out on conveyer belts. This step ensures
proper product spacing and allows for one final visual
quality check before bucket conveyers bring the products up to Ishida multihead weighers for portioning.
Finished packages are passed through metal detectors
and checkweighers as well as visual inspections before
they are approved to ship.
Phelps works directly with packaging supplier
Belmark, De Pere, Wisconsin, for most of the roll stock

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PET Food Processing - June 2019

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