Food & Beverage

Compressed air contamination is a food safety issue – not just a quality one

If compressed air contacts your product, ingredients or primary packaging, contamination from oil, water or particulates isn’t just a quality problem. It’s a food safety risk that can trigger batch rejection, BRC or SALSA audit failures, customer complaints and in serious cases, product recalls. It is therefore crucial to consider food grade compressed air in your risk assessment.

ISO 8573-1 sets the international standard for compressed air purity in food manufacturing. J&J Air Systems design, supply and maintain compressed air systems that meet the purity classes your process requires – and we can test and document air quality to support your audit evidence pack, including standards for food grade compressed air where necessary.

The oil-free question

Not every application in a food facility genuinely requires an oil-free compressor – and oil-free machines carry a cost premium. We’ll give you an honest assessment based on where the air actually goes. Where air contacts product or primary packaging, oil-free is the right answer. Where it doesn’t, the right filtration downstream of an oil-injected machine is often more cost-effective. We’ll tell you which applies and why. However, whenever food grade compressed air is required, we will provide a compliant solution.

Typical applications

  • Pneumatic conveying of ingredients and packaging materials
  • PET bottle blowing
  • Cap and lid pressing and sealing
  • Actuating valves and cylinders on filling and packaging lines
  • Product blow-off and cleaning between runs
  • Fermentation process control in breweries and distilleries
  • Cooling of baked goods post-oven

What we supply

  • Oil-free rotary screw and piston compressors
  • Oil-injected compressors with appropriate downstream filtration where suitable
  • Refrigerant and desiccant dryers to control moisture to the required class
  • Coalescing, particulate and activated carbon filters
  • Condensate treatment and oil-water separation for compliant disposal

Our services

  • Air quality testing and ISO 8573-1 classification documentation for food grade compressed air and general compressed air systems
  • System design with food-grade pipework and fittings
  • Planned maintenance scheduled around your production calendar
  • PSSR 2000 statutory inspections
  • Emergency breakdown response

Call: 0800 027 8442 | Email: [email protected]