Application Solution
Cookie Quality
A Recipe for Success
The impact of moisture content on taste, shelf-life and more
When cereal grains, sweetener, and fats are combined to form cookies, the final product can
be a joy to behold. But too much or too little moisture can turn a smile into a frown – or even
a lawsuit. Here’s how the switch to halogen moisture analysis is helping a baked-goods giant
ensure customer satisfaction, shelf-life and safety.
Children and adults all over the world know the joy of cookies. Also called biscuits in the British
Commonwealth of Nations, these delectable foodstuffs have gained an international reputation
as portable sweet treats, whether they are crispy, soft, filled, stuffed, powdered, sandwiched,
or waffled. And one of the most important aspects of maintaining a brand’s distinctive crunch
or creaminess is moisture.
Moisture does more than affect taste and feel, however. It also affects shelf-life and product
safety. Too little moisture, and over time the cookie literally crumbles. Too much, and cookies
can become soggy or may even grow mold. Accuracy and traceability in moisture analysis can
help a baked-goods company preserve profits by promoting operational efficiency and avoiding
cost of waste and issues with auditors.
What ingredients are required to obtain accurate moisture analysis? And how can highvolume producers balance the need for accuracy with the pressure of meeting production
demands? The experience of a large Indian cookie producer makes an excellent case and
point for what it means to enable fast, reliable moisture analysis that promotes production
speed without sacrificing quality.
Creating consistent quality
Application Solution
This leading Indian cookie manufacturer with roots that date back
to the 19th century serves half the
Indian population through millions
of retail outlets. Finished goods are
produced on scores of production
lines moving 24/7, both in-house
and at trusted contract manufacturers. In both its own operations
and at the suppliers, the manufacturer strives to minimize waste,
increase revenue, ensure consumer satisfaction and safety, and
to keep auditors satisfied.
Moisture determination plays
an important role at the company
in the attainment of consistent quality in several production phases.
Uses include:
• Materials assessment
at goods-in
On receipt of raw materials moisture determination assures that
ingredients will behave as expected
and are suitable for storage. Additionally, it ensures that suppliers
are not overpaid, as goods are
paid by weight and excess moisture content could lead to artificial
inflation of the price.
• iDough conditioning
Moisture determination ensures
that individual dough batches
meet established standards so
that dough will spread easily to
the required thickness and
accept punching or molding into
branded shapes.
• “Doneness” checks
Moisture determination is
frequently used after baking
and cooling to ensure cookies
have attained expected
attributes such as crispness.
• End-product testing
As might be expected, finished
cookies are also put through
moisture determination protocols
to ensure they maintain desired
attributes and will be shelf-stable
for established time periods.
Stored cookies are tested again
at 3 and 6 month intervals.
Engineering &
Inventory Control
Automated
Production
Material Receiving
Quality Control Lab
Goods-in
Shelf life,cost of goods
Baking & Frying
Dough
Cutting, molding
Figure 2: Moisture control points in biscuit manufacturing
Manual
Production
At-line
Quality Control
Packaging & Filling
Baking/cooling
Crispness, color, strength
Logistics
Product testing:
Sheld life, stability
Application Solution
Regulations – Loss on Drying method – well established but slow
Cookies are generally considered a
sub-category of cereals for regulatory purposes. The traditional Loss
on Drying (LoD) method based on
drying oven and analytical balance
was established many decades ago
by agencies such as the International Association for Cereal Sciences and Technology "ICC Method
110/1, Determination of Moisture
Content in Cereals and Cereal Products" (1976) or by the AACC International approved method of analysis "Method 44-15.02, Moisture -
Air Oven Methods" (1975). These
drying oven based methods are
slow, taking between two and four
hours to deliver a result. Whilst
awaiting the moisture results some
batch types needed to be quarantined during production causing
unavoidable delays; continuous
operation on other production lines
meant a significant number of
cookies rolling by on conveyors that
could potentially be of sub-optimal
quality or even have to be scrapped
because of determination results.
Seeking speed and accuracy
Any alternative method, though,
would have to deliver speed without
running afoul of industry regulations. So, it would also have to be
proven to perform reliably and consistently. Out of Specification (OOS)
results that had appeared falsely
correct because of poor method
application or faulty equipment
were simply not acceptable due to
the potential for disastrous consequences ranging from production
backups to disappointed customers. Ease and cost of implementation would also be important factors
as the manufacturer sought to standardize operations at its own and
co-packing facilities.
Reducing time-to-result with ease
The company found the speed and
consistency they sought using halogen moisture analyzers (HMA). HMA
can be run at highly consistent temperatures and %MC results are
delivered in minutes rather than
hours and without any need of error
prone manual data transcription and
calculation. The customers QC operators have typically obtained a time
gain exceeding two or even three
hours over their previous method.
This enhanced speed of in-process
control optimizes processing and
improves overall biscuit quality.
The manufacturer chose METTLER
TOLEDO HE53 models for QC tests
along its production lines. As an
easy-to-use entry-level model, HE53
is cost-effective and provides the
company with a combination of
accuracy and processing ease that
has helped operators get up to
speed quickly. Central QC labs use
the more advanced HX204 for reference testing and monitoring of HE53
units in the factory.
For both METTLER TOLEDO moisture
analyzer models, operators need
only load a 5 g sample and start the
appropriate method via one click.
The analyzers reliably achieve the
drying temperature and stay there for
the duration of the test. Results are
displayed clearly on the screen. If the
sample passes, production continues. If the sample fails, corrective
action can be taken with greater
speed than ever before to ensure any
resulting losses are minimized.
Application Solution
A recipe for success
Mettler-Toledo GmbH
Laboratory Weighing
CH-8606 Greifensee, Switzerland
Tel +41 44 944 22 11
Fax +41 44 944 30 60
Subject to technical changes
© 6/2016 Mettler-Toledo GmbH
30351163
Global MarCom 1983 RK/JB
Overall, halogen moisture analyzer (HMA) technology is helping the customer keep a close
watch on moisture content to
create consistent quality in its
finished biscuits through:
• faster results that promote operational efficiency
• less variability due to elimination
of human processing errors
• better use of raw materials and
more consistent baking results
Perhaps most importantly, the
company is enjoying significantly
reduced waste by being able to
obtain results faster than ever
before. All told, the benefits of
HMA and METTLER TOLEDO are
creating a recipe for success that
the manufacturers management
and operators will be able to
enjoy for years to come.
www.mt.com/moisture
For more information