It said vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients required special treatment for niche markets.
“For babies, especially, the food must contain all the necessary nutrients in the right amounts,” the company said.
“ A further aspect is that a baby’s digestive, metabolic and excretory organs have to work harder than those of an adult. Against this background it is understandable why the hygiene and quality standards for industrially produced baby food are so high.”
The company highlighted some of the special measures it takes to ensure standards are kept high when producing such items incuding:
- Monitoring airborne microbial counts
- Use of zonal airlocks
- Higher air pressure in the production rooms to prevent impurities entering from outside when the high-speed doors are opened
EU GMP standards
“When the production plant was built we stressed the importance of optimum cleaning,” said Frank Hellerung, business development manager in Pharma and Food.
“We have floor drains in every room to permit wet cleaning. Because both the blending equipment and the rooms themselves are washed down regularly and also at the customer’s request – including the light switches, door handles etc. The cleaning process has been validated according to the EU GMP Guide, Part II, which is applicable to the manufacture of pharmaceutical products.”
The company highlighted how cleaning procedures such as wet cleaning blending containers to prevent substances that cause haze entering the premix were useful in the production of fortified beverages such as energy drinks.
“And under these conditions it is no problem to manufacture products to kosher or halal standards either,” the company said.
The company said it ensured nutrient mixture accuracy via a barcode-controlled Mettler Toledo weighing system.
“Every step in production is controlled by a barcode scanner. The code number guarantees full traceability. That means we can offer our customers the highest possible degree of safety,” Hellerung added
Hamburg-based Sternvitaminis a member of the Stern-Wywiol Gruppe.