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[matthewcc]

Hello, I have a few questions for nitrogen flushing.  We are recommended by at least one of our suppliers of carotenoids that we should flush the containers of component with nitrogen for storage after opening to retain the characteristics and the strength percentage of the ingredient.  This is a dried powder that will go into a dietary supplement, and the component contains two carotenoids that each must be a certain minimum percentage. (I don't know if I can be any more specific as this is proprietary.)  We are SQF certified and have an NSF GMP certification in the United States.

 

So for SQF, e.g., 11.5.5 / 17.5.5, requiring compressed nitrogen to be clean and requiring monitoring, are the gas supplier's certification or test results sufficient for this, or would we need to separately sample the nitrogen and send it out for testing for particles, oil, and micro?  Also, what are typical attachments from the nitrogen regulator that would be compatible with heat-sealed aluminum pouches that would allow us to do a nitrogen flush and then seal?  I believe our approach would be to have separate systems for nitrogen flushing capability in our sampling area and in our weighing area.

 

Thank you,
Matthew

[G M]

Some supplier documents won't hurt, but the SQF code is also looking at the potential of your distribution hardware to contribute contamination, and needs to be collected near points of use.  

 

There are a variety of sealers that incorporate gas flush lines.  You just line the opening of the bag up over the nozzle before closing it, and the machine does a combination of pushing the flush gas into the bag while drawing all gasses away from the exterior -- the line in stops first if you're drawing a tight vacuum.  With a powder or fine granular material, you probably need low flow rates, and maybe a wide 'fan' shaped nozzle?