Food-Grade Air

Compressed air is the most common utility used in a typical industrial facility. It encompasses most operating aspects of the plant. The compressed air system can end up being the most expensive utility due to the focus that if production is running - then leave the system alone. Processes and machines are added and as long as the compressor can handle the increasing load - all is good. This brings us to our subject matter. The plant adds a process, a specialty coating line, requiring respirator protection. The plant determines supplied air respirators are the best choice. They want to be responsible and do the right thing so they start by reviewing what OSHA has to say on the subject.

It was the Fall of 1997 in Germany. I was just another guy working in the German compressed air industry. East Germans were still being looked down on - seven years after unification, the Euro was launching in little over a year - forcing marketing managers like me to scramble and create unified european Euro pricing strategies, European Cohesion Funds were flowing out of Germany and into the Mediterranean (not literally), and the diminutive Mercedes “Smart Car” was the cool car for space-challenged urban dwellers. With this going on, you can imagine the surprise of the compressed air industry when compressed air was featured in “Der Spiegel”, a “Newsweek-like” weekly magazine in Germany with national distribution.

Compressed air is a key utility supporting the food packaging and food processing industries in North America. Compressed air must be contaminant-free to ensure the protection of the food products processed in each facility. The U.K. Code of Practice for Food-Grade Air helps define three types of compressed air systems and air purification specifications required for each.

The next time you sit down for dinner, take a good look at your food. There’s a very good chance compressed air played an essential role in preparing your meal for consumption.

Industry standards serve a very important purpose for the end users of compressed air equipment.  If the standards are well written, they can help to promote the equipment that they govern, as long as the equipment manufacturers properly apply and promote the standards.