You've probably come across food-grade liquid nitrogen in use at some point. This goes from the exciting, unusual frozen desserts in amusement parks, shopping malls, and restaurants to your favorite pack of potato chips. This unique gas offers a safe preservation alternative for the packaging and food industry. It has also become popular among chefs and restaurant owners who use it for aesthetic food presentation.
If you're looking for a food-grade liquid nitrogen supplier, installer, system designer, maintenance expert, or repair service in Hollywood, Miami, or Hialeah, Florida, The Cryo Group is here to help. We're a fully equipped and experienced cryogenic service provider capable of meeting all your needs. Meanwhile, keep reading to learn more about food-grade nitrogen, including why it's being used, how it's produced, and how on-site liquid nitrogen generation can benefit your business.
Why Food Grade Liquid Nitrogen is Being Used
There are various reasons why food-grade liquid nitrogen is being used in the packaging industry. Here's a closer look at some of these reasons:
It Inhibits Bacteria From Thriving
Bacteria grow and thrive in organic material once exposed to oxygen. However, since liquid nitrogen doesn't allow bacteria growth, it's used to flush out oxygen from packaged foods to protect it from spoilage. It also helps to maintain the packaged food's color, flavor, scent, and structural integrity.
It Can Protect Food During Transit
Besides stopping packaged food from going bad, food-grade liquid nitrogen can protect delicate packaged foods. This is common in delicate foods like chips that easily crush while being transported. Filling the package with nitrogen creates a cushion-like effect that stops the chips from pulverization.
It Maintains Extremely Low Temperatures for Preservation
Since food-grade liquid nitrogen can maintain extremely low temperatures, it is a suitable option to preserve and sustain fresh foods' shelf life. This is crucial for highly susceptible foods such as fish, vegetables, fatty meats, and ready-to-eat foods.
It's a Safe Alternative to Chemical Preservatives
Nitrogen is inert, meaning that it doesn't react with other molecules. It's also tasteless, colorless, and odorless, making it safe for food packaging and preservation.
How Food Grade Liquid Nitrogen is Produced
Pure liquid nitrogen is usually produced through a cryogenic distillation process. In this process, nitrogen is separated from other gases in the air through an intensive process that involves pre-treatment, compression, cooling at extremely low temperatures, purification, distillation, and packaging. This process can be conducted on a huge scale or through on-site generators. In industrial-scale production, food-grade liquid nitrogen is made from a different site and stored in specialized Dewar containers. These are pressurized vessels with high thermal insulation. These cylinders are then transported to the location of use.
On-site generators can be membrane or pressure swing adsorption (PSA) generators. Both offer a simple, hassle-free solution to produce a limitless nitrogen supply in food preservation or packaging.
At Cryo Group, we offer liquid nitrogen supply and on-site generator installation services through our sister company, VS Carbonics. We have small- and large-scale tanks and can install an on-site generator to suit your business's unique needs.
How On-site Liquid Nitrogen Generator Can Benefit Your Business
On-site liquid nitrogen generators offer more benefits than external tanks and cylinders supply. Some of these benefits include the following:
It only needs a small initial investment, and you'll have a constant liquid nitrogen supply that can be scaled or reduced based on your business's demand.
Offers a reliable food-grade liquid nitrogen supply compared to cylinder delivery, which is subject to the supplier's schedule.
It plays a role in environmental preservation by avoiding the use of fossil fuels during delivery.
No wastage occurs since businesses can produce and use the required nitrogen at a specific period.
It has no safety issues related to moving and storing Dewar cylinders.
See How We Can Help Put Nitrogen In Food at The Cryo Group
Food-grade liquid nitrogen is undoubtedly a game changer in the food preservation and packaging industries. At Cryo Group, we can help you leverage its benefits and help your business maximize its efficiency. Whether you need a reliable food-grade liquid nitrogen supplier or an on-site liquid generator installation expert, we can help you meet your needs. Contact us today to learn how we can help you.
Image Credit: Tee Pracha / Shutterstock
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