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How a Moisture Analyzer in Food Safety and Quality Control Labs Works

Problem: U.S. food testing labs are closely monitoring discussions over proposed legislation regarding food safety. This year, lawmakers could approve more stringent safety standards. That means food laboratories will be looking for efficient and affordable equipment to help them adhere to regulations.

by Adam Equipment
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Adam Equipment’s PMB moisture analyzer provides a speedy, efficient way to verify moisture content in foods during the research and development phase and in quality control checks on food products.


While water is an essential ingredient in many commercial food products, too little or too much can pose safety and quality issues. That’s why food testing labs rely heavily on moisture analysis during the initial product research and development phase, and later on in quality testing laboratories. Maintaining the correct moisture levels is critical for safe food products, and also when determining product shelf life and expiration dates that help ensure food freshness, flavor, and stability.

Solution: The use of products such as Adam Equipment’s PMB moisture analyzer is gaining popularity in food testing labs. Previously, labs had to rely on oven-testing to perform moisture analysis, which was time-consuming and inefficient. The PMB moisture analyzer does the job in a fraction of the time, providing reliable and consistent results.

This moisture analyzer accurately verifies food moisture content in less than five minutes and is easy to operate. The specimen goes into the heating chamber, which contains a 400- watt, energy-efficient halogen bulb. The bulb heats the sample in 1 °C selectable increments, evenly evaporating the moisture. Three heating options provide the flexibility to customize test methods and temperatures for different food products.

Accurate expiration dates on food products are essential to help ensure quality and safety for consumers.After evaporating the moisture, the PMB calculates the amount of moisture weight loss and responds with the moisture content. After testing several food samples, it’s simple for users to adjust and control the amount of moisture in each batch. An automatic test-setting function enables easy recall for frequent testing of the same food products without additional programming. Users can log or print information, communicate with computers, or transmit test programs and results using the USB and RS-232 interfaces. There is no need for additional software to take readings, giving users the freedom to collect data in any location.

Food testing labs can run multiple PMB units simultaneously, to quickly assess the moisture content of multiple batches. This expedites the entire testing process for busy labs performing many tests on different foods.

An added benefit of a moisture analyzer like this is its ability to retain and store set-up information, saving the time and effort of having to re-enter the information in the next analysis. This feature is beneficial for frequently repeated food tests performed after adjustments are made in recipes or formulations.

For more information, please visit www.adamequipment.com