Automatic Sauce Filling and Sealing Machines in the Sauce Food Industry: Key Ope

Automatic Sauce Filling and Sealing Machines in the Sauce Food Industry: Key Operations and Precautions

In the sauce food industry, automatic sauce filling and sealing machines have become core equipment for enterprises' large-scale production, thanks to their advantages of high efficiency and precision. However, most sauces have characteristics such as high viscosity, easy sedimentation, and particle content. Improper operation can easily lead to problems like inaccurate filling and liquid leakage during sealing.

Equipment Commissioning: The Premise of Filling and Sealing

Equipment commissioning requires precise matching with sauce characteristics, as it is the prerequisite for smooth filling and sealing.

Before starting the machine, the filling speed and pressure must be adjusted according to the sauce viscosity:

For medium-to-high viscosity sauces (e.g., tomato sauce, broad bean paste), the filling speed should be appropriately reduced and the pressure increased to prevent insufficient filling caused by slow sauce flow.

For particle-containing sauces (e.g., salad dressing, Thousand Island dressing), it is necessary to replace the filling head with a suitable large-caliber one to avoid particle blockage in the channel.

Meanwhile, the filling volume must be calibrated. Through multiple test filling and weighing processes, the error should be controlled within the food industry standard range (usually no more than ±2%), preventing inaccurate dosages from affecting product reputation and compliance with market supervision requirements.

Material Pretreatment: A Direct Factor in Filling Stability

The material pretreatment process directly affects filling stability.

Before filling, sauces must be fully stirred. This is especially critical for sauces containing pulp or nut particles: a stirring device should be used to ensure uniform particle distribution, avoiding situations where some products have excessive particles while others have none due to sedimentation.

If the sauce requires heating and heat preservation (e.g., sweet bean sauce, sesame paste), the temperature of the material storage tank must be stabilized within a preset range (generally 35-50℃). Excessively high temperatures may cause sauce deterioration, while excessively low temperatures will increase viscosity and affect filling smoothness.

In addition, the material conveying pipeline should be made of food-grade stainless steel. Before use, it must be rinsed and disinfected with sterile water to prevent residual impurities in the pipeline from contaminating the sauce.

Sealing Process Control: The Key to Preventing Liquid Leakage

Controlling the sealing process is crucial to preventing liquid leakage. The sealing temperature and pressure must be adjusted according to the material of the packaging container (e.g., glass bottles, plastic bottles):

For plastic bottles, the sealing temperature is usually controlled at 120-150℃ and the pressure at 0.3-0.5MPa. Excessively high temperatures may cause bottle mouth deformation, while excessively low temperatures will result in incomplete sealing.

When sealing glass bottles with aluminum foil lids, the temperature needs to be increased to 180-220℃ to ensure tight adhesion between the aluminum foil and the bottle mouth.

After sealing, sampling inspection is required: invert the samples for 1-2 hours to check for liquid leakage. At the same time, observe whether the sealing film is flat and free of wrinkles. If problems are found, adjust the equipment parameters in a timely manner.

Sanitation Management: The Bottom Line for Food Safety

Sanitation management runs through the entire production process and is the bottom line for ensuring food safety.

Before and after each production cycle, components such as filling heads, material storage tanks, and sealing molds must be thoroughly cleaned: first rinse residual sauce with warm water, then soak and disinfect with food-grade disinfectant, and finally rinse with sterile water and dry.

The equipment surface must be wiped and disinfected with alcohol daily to prevent contamination from dust and oil.

In addition, operators must wear sterile work clothes and gloves to avoid direct contact between hands and the equipment or sauce, eliminating contamination risks at the source.

Industry technicians stated that strictly controlling the precautions in all links of automatic sauce filling and sealing can not only improve product qualification rates and production efficiency but also help enterprises maintain the bottom line of food safety and establish a good brand image in market competition. In the future, as sauce categories continue to diversify, enterprises will need to continuously optimize operating standards based on the characteristics of new products and promote the coordinated upgrading of equipment and processes.