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Birko Blog

As a leader in food safety, Birko is at the forefront of industry research and trends. Fighting resident foodborne pathogens, developing plant sanitation solutions, sanitary design of custom equipment, and precision chemical blending. In this space, our experts share their insights on these and other timely topics.

February 26, 2020

A Food Safety Game-Changer: Your Look at Birko’s Elite 360® Precision Application Technology™

Interventions. Decontamination. Antimicrobial interventions. Intervention application. Precision application. No matter what you call it, it is a crucial step for any food manufacturer. And we’ve created a way to make this process more effective, efficient and cost-effective: Elite 360® precision application technology™. Elite 360® is a groundbreaking new electrostatic intervention technology that has the potential to significantly improve the safety of today’s food. The use of electrostatic in the protein industry isn’t new, but our ability to harness this technology in an application that solves significant food safety issues is new. The Elite 360® technology has the potential to disrupt… Read More

Article by Mark Swanson

January 3, 2020

Join the Unique Experience at IPPE 2020

Birko is gearing up for the International Production and Processing Expo (IPPE), which will take place at the Georgia World Congress Center, January 28 – 30. IPPE is the world’s largest annual display of technology, equipment, supplies, and services used in the production and processing of eggs, meat, and poultry. More than 32,000 industry leaders attend this show, and Birko is excited to be exhibiting once again in 2020, as well as sponsor the annual Food Safety Council Meeting. Here’s what to expect at this year’s expo. IPPE’s Show Floor This year, IPPE is making room for more than 1,400 exhibitors. There… Read More

Article by Bob Ogren

December 11, 2019

Problematic Draught Line Cleaning

Caustic (sodium hydroxide, NaOH, and potassium hydroxide, KOH) cleaners are typically used to clean draught (tap) lines, with acid cleaning taking a back seat and only used as needed to tackle calcium oxalate (beer stone) issues. The Brewers Association recently published the Fourth Edition of the Draught Beer Quality Manual (DBQM) and can be found online at https://bit.ly/2YfaEGS. The DBQM recommends cleaning draught lines with caustic every 14 days to keep the lines in good shape. For most beers, this works just fine. But what happens when a non-standard beer is put on a draught line and then ends-up flavoring a… Read More

Article by Dana Johnson

October 21, 2019

Hot Liquor Tank Cleaning using Birko’s Ac Tec 100

Making beer requires the use of a lot of hot water, and the vessel that holds hot water until it is ready to be used for brewing or cleaning is called the Hot Liquor Tank. The hot water in the Hot Liquor Tank typically comes from the heat exchanger, which cools the wort before fermentation. Over time, The Hot Liquor Tank may scale-up with hard water deposits and rust. And despite the need for regular cleaning, the Hot Liquor Tank may be one of the most neglected tanks in the brewery. One of the most commonly asked questions I receive… Read More

Article by Dana Johnson

February 11, 2019

Seek and Destroy | How Environmental Monitoring Helps Ready-to-Eat Processors Stop Food Contamination in its Tracks

environmental monitoring for food safety birko

A ready-to-eat (RTE) food processing facility with a strong food safety plan will start by implementing principles of sanitary design and follow up with documented procedures for cleaning and sanitation. But, how can you be confident that your plant is properly mitigating contamination risks, such as Listeria and other bacterial concerns, on a continual basis? How do you know for certain that your facility’s food safety plan is effective?

Article by Elis Owens