Heat and Control’s new twin-drum spiral oven cooks faster, and delivers higher product yields and greater production output, because the cooking environment is independently controlled for each spiral drum. True Two-Zone™ cooking control is achieved by housing each drum in a separate cylindrical enclosure. Air flows uniformly across the conveyor from all sides to provide minimal temperature variation. This produces faster, more uniform cooking with no need to overcook to ensure products are fully cooked.

The OK Supersealer SB3 Bandsealer from O/K International Corp. is designed to stand up to aggressive cold, wet environments. It has an accurate and quick setting of the heater block gap and a unique visual automatic band tensioning system. The bagsealer’s design creates a “perfect seal” for applications like meat and poultry, relays the company.

Specifically designed with product presentation in mind, Multivac’s new T-570 double-web traysealing system holds product in place at the bottom of the tray using an initial web of film to form a skin-tight seal. A second web of film then seals the top of the tray to complete the package. Register-printed film for the second web can be used to effectively eliminate the cardboard sleeves often used to brand and label tray-packaged entrées.

Perdue Farms has enhanced the packaging for its Short Cuts® fully cooked carved chicken and turkey strips by incorporating a new zipper from Zip-Pak. The 600 series zippers enhance convenience, improve overall package appearance and perform to the highest packaging standards. The new zipper can be adhered to packaging film at temperatures up to 20°F lower then required for traditional zippered packaging and requires less pressure to incorporate into the package.

Polymer Packaging Inc. introduces the quad-seal, pre-zippered, stand-up pouch. The pouch allows companies to incorporate four separate registered printed webs into a single package. Brand and packaging designers now have the ability to incorporate different materials and designs from four independent webs and print panels into a package with a transverse directional zipper on the front panel. It provides additional methods of offering pre-zipped, stand-up pouches to address the demand for recloseable packaging.

Hi-Speed Checkweigher Co. Inc. introduces the Beltweigh/S Combo checkweigher, featuring Hi-Speed’s new S Series controller and a Safeline® metal detector. The S Series touchscreen control provides ease-of-operation and improves machining performance, while superior accuracy is delivered at high production rates with the servo-driven Beltweigh/S product-handling system. It operates at speeds up to 350 feet per minute to handle up to 500 containers per minute.

The NuTEC 760 hydraulic food forming system from NuTEC Mfg. Eliminates mechanical parts, thereby reducing downtime, minimizing maintenance, and lowering repair costs. It portions up to 6,000 pounds of product per hour with minimal product working. The 760 uses a variety of mold plate materials to run beef, poultry, fish, veal, lamb, or vegetables. Custom mold plates can be designed to customer specifications.

 
REISER introduces the FM250 Vemag forming machine, a flexible solution for high-speed forming of gourmet hamburger patties. Connected to a Vemag HP15 vacuum filter with an in-line grinder, it can produce up to 300 patties per minute. The FM250 system does not use excessive pressure when forming the product, resulting in a product with superior bite and texture. An easy-to-change forming nozzle allows quick changeovers to produce balls and other varieties of product shapes.

BD Diagnostics offers color-coded tube labels for the company’s highest-volume liquid tube media products. By color-coding labels of similar-looking media formulations, microbiologists will more easily be able to identify these formulations and can record important information. The following liquid media formations will now be sold with color-coded labels: Trypticase™ soy broth – green label; GN broth – yellow label; Enriched thioglycollate broth – blue label, and Lim broth – orange label.

Hollymatic Corp. appointed Jim Williams director of marketing. He oversees all sales and marketing for the company. Williams has an extensive background in the food industry as manufacturer, distributor, and operator levels, most recently as national sales manager with The Broaster Co.

Henry Howard, a pioneer in the frozen food industry, died October 17, 2004, after a two-year battle with cancer. He co-founded Suzanna’s Kitchen in 1960, producing proportioned frozen patties, barbecue pork, Brunswick stew, and other frozen products. He co-founded the Association of American Meat Processors in 1977, and he also served on the board of directors for the National Frozen Prepared Food Manufacturers as well as other regional and local food associations.

Master-Bilt appoints Charles “Chuck” Dawson president. Dawson has more than 30 years of managerial and marketing experience in the foodservice industry, with specific experience in manufacturing, sales, installation, and service. He was previously vice president and general manager of operations for Carrier Commercial Refrigeration Heat Transfer Products Group and Witt Heat Transfer Products.

GEOCOMtms, a global provider of fleet optimization and territory design solutions, has appointed Michael Nark as president and chief executive officer effective immediately. Nark joined GEOCOMtms in 2003 and has more than 14 years of leadership experience in the information technology industry,

Patrick Larmon has been appointed executive director of Bunzl PLC, an international distribution and outsourcing group headquartered in London. Larmon was named president and chief executive officer of Bunzl Distribution Inc. of St. Louis, MO, last year and has been with the company for 15 years.