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Hellers Seasonings & Ingredients

CENTRI-SIFTER Separator Ensures Precise Particle Sizes in Processing Spices

BEDFORD PARK, IL—When someone mentions spices, many of us think of the jolt of a hot curry, or the zing of cayenne. But for those in the spice and seasonings industry, there are two main concepts: freshness and precision. Without them, spices don't taste or act right.

Ten years ago, Hellers Seasonings & Ingredients began installing Kason stainless steel CENTRI-SIFTER Centrifugal Sifters to enable them to precisely control the particle sizes of the spices and seasonings their customers order.

In their business, it is not enough to have the freshest product. The particle size of a spice or seasoning influences its efficiency and uniformity, and can drastically affect 'mouth feel' and taste.

Downtime to replace screens each time the plant handled a different seasoning formula or spice had seriously affected productivity, final cost and customer satisfaction. The investment in Kason CENTRI-SIFTER units has also made significant improvements in this regard. In addition to the Bedford Park facility, there are Hellers' two additional plants in California and Pennsylvania. Each handles a broad range of formulations and spices. "We operate two shifts per day at each of our plants. Screens need to be changed several times a day at earn location. With the CENTRI-SIFTER, it's faster and easier than before, which has reduced down time and concurrent costs. At each facility, the savings are appreciable," Vice President of Facilities Werner Goelz stated.

Another advantage lies in the portability of the Kason units. They run be easily cleaned and moved from one processing line to another as needed. This gives Hellers a high level of processing flexibility.

Goelz recently installed a Kason wedge wire screen in one of the CENTRI-SIFTERS to further minimize downtime. Made of stainless steel, the screens are highly impact resistant, making it ideal for use with coarse spices produced from large raw materials with angular ends. These wedge wire screens are available in a broad range of size openings suitable for many different applications where screen breakage may be a problem.

Stainless steel CENTRI-SIFTER helps produce spices of the right particle size. Their screens are easily and quickly changed to process different products and their portability enables them to be moved to different processing lines as needed.

Screen Tips - Volume 12, Number 2 Fall 1997