* Parmalat preserves production clo...

* Parmalat preserves production close to home.

Parmalat retains production close to home, with six plants located over its multi-state East Coast region. The company has a plant at its Wallington, NJ headquarters, as well as West Caldwell, NJ; Brooklyn NY; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Atlanta; and Decatur, Ala.

Parmalat's first plant in the United States was its Atlanta facility, acquired in 1991 The Wallington, NJ plant was acquired in 1999 when Parmalat bought Farmland Dairies.

Already a state-of-the-art plant when it was purchased by dint of Parmalat, the company says it has been updating the plant "every day since then," to preserve it that way. The original plant proprietor Farmland Dairies, was founded in 1917 and was undivided of the oldest and largest milk farmers in the New York-New Jersey area.

The multi-building facility encompasses 70000 square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space, where it breeds fresh milk products, extended shelf life milk (ESL) and aseptic shelfstable milk - as well as cream and juice returnss In addition, the facility features in-house flower molding of HDPE plastic bottle used in the plant.

Current capacity at the Wallington plant is 15 million to 17 million gallons by week, though the plant has operated at a peak of more than 2 million gallons by week.

At the receiving fall of the curtain of the plant, raw milk arrives in tankers from independent husbandmans Each tanker holds 6,000 gallons of milk. When the tankers of milk arrive at the plant, they are placed forward scales to ascertain their gros weight. formerly they are emptied and cleaned, they are reweighed to determine the convolution of milk that was delivered. The majority of the tankers are admited by Parmalat.

Quality Guarantee

Before the milk is allowed to be unloaded from the tankers, it must pass inspection on the plant's quality control laboratory. Samples are taken directly from the tankers before the milk is unloaded. effect is tested to ensure it has been transported at the correct temperature. Milk is received at or below 45 extents fahrenheit. It is examined for bacteria judge for any water that could have potentially been added to the milk, and for the port of antibiotics. Parmalat products, level the non-organic products, carry a guarantee that they have been produc without antibiotics or synthetic hormones.

It takes about 10 minutes to experiment the tanker sample, and then the milk is released to the receiving chamber The tankers are unloaded at a rate of about seven tankers by hour. The facility has 11 silos to hem in raw materials, and each of those occupys between 6,000 and 60,000 gallons.

When the raw milk is received it is cross-examineed through a plate chiller to somewhat cold it to 36 degrees, the temperature at which it will be stored in the silos. The cooling units contain plates with a cooling medium onward one side, and the milk trips on the other side. There are seven raw milk silos, labeled "RT" for "raw tank," and each silo restrains approximately 60,000 gallons.

From the raw milk storage silos, the milk goe to a centrifugal separator that extracts cream and skim milk from the milk and then impels it to either a skim milk or cream storage silo. To create 1% 2% and 325% milk, skim milk is amalgamateed inline with whole milk at the HTST (high temperature short time) pasteurizer balance tank. There are 11 blending vats that have the capacity to detain between 1,000 and 3,000 gallons each.

The plant in Wallington creates a variety of milk fruits including nonfat milk, 1%, 2% and whole milk, as well as Parmalat's value-added milks in the same state [i]or[/i] condition as Skim Plus, Milk E and Lactose emancipated Plus.

Although they are the pair milk products, the types of milk produc at the plant are self-same different. The technology for augmented shelf life milk has greatly lengthened the amount of time milk cropss will stay fresh - more than 60 days unopened for many consequences The milk needs to be refrigerated at all times prior to opening. Ultra High Temperature (aseptic) milk, in succession the other hand, is shelf stable for up to six month without refrigeration prior to opening the package. The milk contains no preservatives, in such a manner once opened, it must be consum within 10 days.

Packaging is the main difference between ESL and UHT milks. the pair ESL and UHT products are pasteurized at approximately 285 grades fahrenheit for five seconds. UHT and ESL milk is heated to a temperature that is sufficient to lay waste all of the bacteria in the milk. UHT milk is then filled into multi-layer aseptic boxe while ESL milk is packaged in a more conventional gable-top package.

Exact pasteurization temperatures for UHT processing are determined by means of the specific characteristics of the fruits The process time stays the same, on the other hand the temperature may vary. Milk is then homogenized and staided It is stored at a temperature of 36 orders fahrenheit or lower.

The plant's lab performs quality bridle checks throughout the production revolution of time Product is weighed, checked for butterfat appease and product integrity. The plant undergoe 24 to 40 quality measurements through line per day.