Water activity is a key quality metric in the food industry, as it affects food safety, shelf life, taste, aroma, texture, mouth feel and colour. By establishing acceptable water activity levels and then monitoring water activity at various points in the production process, food manufacturers can reduce costs and avoid reputationally damaging quality issues and expensive product recalls. Water activity is even more important today, as manufactures come under pressure to reduce salt and sugar content. Furthermore, if packaging is redesigned to reduce or eliminate the use of plastics, the management of water activity plays a crucial role in maintaining food safety and shelf life.
The latest AquaLab Series 4TE instrument from Labcell – www.labcell.com – is an accurate, quick, simple and cost-effective way for food manufacturing companies to measure water activity.
The AquaLab for a broad spectrum of applications including goods inwards inspection, in-process HACCP tests and end-of-line quality assurance analysis. It outputs water activity readings in five minutes or less, with a resolution of +/- 0.0001 and an accuracy of +/-0.003 aw.
The AquaLab Series 4TE benefits from built-in temperature equilibration that enables users to select an operating temperature of anywhere between 15 and 50 degrees C to ensure consistency of readings. For each measurement and calibration, the instrument logs the date, time and user. Up to 8,000 data points can be stored securely on the instrument and these can be downloaded to a PC for further analysis and archiving.
For more information call Labcell Ltd on 01420 568150 or e-mail mail@labcell.com
