Food Industry
Industry: Email Alert RSS FeedMoisture protection keep onions dry, mold-free during cross-country trek
Food & Drug Packaging, Dec, 2000
Desiccant helps freight company eliminates product loss Clue to moisture problems
Getting produce across the country is no easy task. Temperature and humidity variations can take their toll on cargo during cross-country shipping, particularly in winter when the weather is extreme.
Logistics freight company Compass Consolidators faces potential profit shortfalls unless it controls spoilage from moisture damage when transporting yellow onions from Washington state to the East Coast.
"We need to ensure that our produce remains dry during shipping on the long haul to the East Coast," says Jim Valentine, regional manager of Compass Consolidators.
Most RecentFood Articles
Compass turned to AGM Container Controls, specialists in packaging and transportation applications. AGM recommended Container Dri [R] II desiccant bags from Sud-Chemie Performance Packaging to control ambient moisture in rail containers and prevent condensation on cargo.
The product comes in the form of 125-gram or 50-gram bags with adhesive for secure placement on pallets, container walls and tops of cargo after loading and just prior to shipping.
Compass ships onions in 45-foot long trailers along the Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail line through the northern Midwest states to the East Coast. The containers are vented to circulate air around the onions as they travel. This works well for the five- to seven-day trip in the spring, summer and fall.
In the winter, however, it's a different story.
The onions are stored in facilities that are kept at a temperature of 45 [degrees] to 50 [degrees] F., then put in trailers, which then are loaded onto railcars.
To keep produce from freezing, a combination of insulation blankets and foam insulation is used, starting in the late fall.
While the insulation keeps the produce from freezing, it limits air circulation and raises the humidity level, leading to conditions that promote mold and spoilage.
The packers place 64 bags of Container Dri II in with each 48-foot long, 102-inch wide container of onions to help keep them dry and mold-free. Each bag is designed to absorb up to three times its weight in moisture.
Onions usually are shipped in 50-count plastic mesh bags that are loaded directly into container trailers. Much of the cargo is sent to distributors who repackage the onions in 3- and 5- pound bags. Other receivers include large vegetable distribution centers.
Container Dri II bags remain active for up to 60 days. Convenient, mess-free and non-toxic, the bags can be disposed of after use like any waste stream product.
In a nutshell
Goal: Keep onions dry and mold-free during shipping across weather extremes
How: Use desiccant bags in truck trailers to control moisture
Result: No product loss due to moisture problems
AGM Container Controls (800) 995-5590 www.agmcontainer.com
Item #584
Sud-Chemie Performance Pkg. (800) 989-3374 www.s-cpp.com
Item #585
Brought to you by CBS MoneyWatch.com
- Best- and Worst-Paid College Degrees
- 6 Things You Should Never Do on Twitter or Facebook
- How Much Sleep Do You Really Need?
- 6 Big Myths about Gas Mileage
Most Recent Business Articles
- Multiple criteria evaluation and optimization of transportation systems
- Multi-criteria analysis procedure for sustainable mobility evaluation in urban areas
- A two-leveled multi-objective symbiotic evolutionary algorithm for the hub and spoke location problem
- Multi-criteria analysis for evaluating the impacts of intelligent speed adaptation
- The development of Taiwan arterial traffic-adaptive signal control system and its field test: a Taiwan experience
Most Recent Business Publications
Most Popular Business Articles
- 7 tips for effective listening: productive listening does not occur naturally. It requires hard work and practice - Back To Basics - effective listening is a crucial skill for internal auditors
- FAS 109: a primer for non-accountants - Financial Accounting Standards Board's "Statement 109: Accounting for Income Taxes"
- LIFO vs. FIFO: a return to the basics
- Design a commission plan that drives sales - Sales Commissions
- Too Young to Rent a Car? - 25-years-old the minimum age for car renting - Brief Article


