PRESS RELEASE
12 04 1996
New baking system banishes mouldy bread

Now, bakeries can supply bread that is completely free of mould without having to use preservatives.
This is achieved by cooling and packing bread products fresh from the oven in clinically clean air from which all mould spores have been filtered. The company promoting this new system, Revent Food Machinery AB (RFM), was inspired by the high purity standards of the pharmaceuticals industry, where the new system was developed.

When it comes out of the oven, hot bread is sterile and entirely free from bacteria, but mould spores are deposited on it from the air as it cools and is packed. These spores begin to develop, and, after a few days, the bread becomes mouldy.
‘If the pharmaceutical industry can work in a totally sterile environment, surely bread could be cooled and packed in conditions that were at least free from moulds', thought Jan Öjve of RFM, who, with Jarmo Santala of the Finnish company Vulganus Ky, developed the spiral transport system. Together, they developed a closed-circuit cooling and packaging system, in which the air is cleaned by special filters. Bread straight from the oven is cooled on a spiral transport conveyor, while slicing and packaging takes place in a sealed space free of mould spores.
‘Traditionally, bread was often cooled on a conveyor high up under the roof in the worst possible conditions with warm damp air, and where it was also extremely difficult to keep clean', explained Öjve. ‘These were ideal conditions for bacteria and moulds, which settled on the bread as it cooled. The new closed-circuit clean-air system ensures that the bread is never exposed to bakery mould spores so that it stays fresh and mould-free without the use of preservatives'.
Jan Öjve points out that the clinically pure atmospheres used in the pharmaceuticals industry were not needed for bakery production.
‘That would be far too expensive. Our most important aim was to have an atmosphere free from mould spores, and we have managed to achieve that at reasonable cost'.
The clean-air system has been used for a year and a half by Linkosuo Oy, one of Finland's biggest bakeries. Initially, it was used only for white bread, but in future all bread will be produced using the same method, without preservatives.
‘We've been successful with our bread because consumers don't care much for preservatives', says Linkosuo Managing Director Pentti Nieminen./ins

Caption:
Mould-free bread without preservatives using a sealed clean-air system.

For further information please contact:
Jan Öjve, Managing Director
Revent Food Machinery AB
Arbetargatan 33
112 45 STOCKHOLM
Sweden
Tel: +46 8652 0915
Fax: +46 8652 4226