Safe For Food + is ACP's quality management program for the production of liquid carbon dioxide intended for food industry (bulk deliveries) and hotel and catering applications (minitank and cylinders). This program has been developed in order to produce and deliver top quality products. The quality of these products is guaranteed during the entire production and distribution process, even including the storage (recipient) at the client's facility.

The effectiveness of the Safe For Food + program has been proved in several analyses and reports.

Production plants

Safe For Food + products are exclusively produced in the following production plants: Carbolim (NL- Geleen), Carbodour (B- Tertre) and Carbowil (Pl- Wloclawek). These modern plants are under direct supervision of ACP and dispose of a certified quality program, based on ISO 9000 standards and HACCP. The raw carbon dioxide gas is obtained from ammonia production and is analyzed at least twice a year. Consultation meetings with our raw gas supplier take place on a regular basis. The best available technology is used in the purification process. To guarantee absolute quality we opt for a Multiple Barrier Approach: several separate elimination points are provided for to remove any components the raw gas might contain.
A DCS (Distributed Control System) provides continuous process control. The operational management of the plant is semi-automated: operators only need to intervene in case of alarm. At certain critical safety or quality alarm signals, the process is shut down automatically and the loading process is interrupted. All events, action and alarms are recorded in the DCS program. Complete traceability is guaranteed.
During the filling of the trailer at the production site, the gas from the trailer is released into the atmosphere or analyzed and recovered at the beginning of the purification process.
Excess product from overloaded trailers is not recovered but released into the atmosphere.
Each production day one sample is taken. This is stored during at least one month for possible analysis.

The clients' installation

Before a client can join the Safe For Food + program his installation is audited. A technical audit is carried out to trace any deficiencies in the installation and to eliminate any contamination source. Then the tank is sampled. This sample is tested to all the parameters set by our specification.
After the audit and sampling the tank is tagged with a seal. This inspection is carried out once a year. (Sampling and inspection visit)

Logistics

All Safe For Food + products are delivered by a selected team of specially trained drivers. Twice a year our drivers receive update courses in food safety.
The deliveries are made exclusively in recently purchased and dedicated trailers that are analyzed on a regular basis: first when coming into service and then at least twice a year. To avoid contamination, the hoses are sealed off with a cap and stored away in insulated casings. The couplings of the trailer are cleaned regularly.

After every loading or unloading a seal for single use is affixed to the trailer. The unique number of this seal is recorded in the analysis certificate.
In order to carry out the initial inspection the trailers are equipped with sampling devices for liquid carbon dioxide in gas, liquid or solid form.
Safe For Food + clients are always the first to be serviced and always receive full drops, when possible. They also receive an analysis certificate at every delivery.
Depending on the region, our trailers use a one-hose or two-hose system. In the one-hose system liquid carbon dioxide is pumped from the trailer to the client's tank, avoiding any trailer contamination risk.
In the two-hose system liquid carbon dioxide is pumped from the trailer to the client's tank while gas from the client's tank is pumped back trough the other hose to decompress the pressure. This way, possible gas phase enrichment is avoided.
During the filling of the trailer at the production site, the gas from the truck is released into the atmosphere or is analyzed and recovered at the beginning of the purification process.
During or after filling, the trailer is sampled for offline analysis in which all gaseous components are analyzed. Only when the results for all components meet the specification an analysis certificate is printed.

Minitank, Cylinders

CO₂ deliveries to our hotel and catering business customers are made in minitanks (maximum storage capacity 200 kg/tank) or in Safe For Food + cylinders.
CO₂ in minitanks is delivered using small trailers, which pumps liquid carbon dioxide from the trailer through a single hose to the client's tank, avoiding any trailer contamination risk. The delivered product is of Safe For Food + quality and is analyzed regularly. The minitanks are made of high quality stainless steel and are corrosion-free. A non-return valve is installed in the pipes to prevent drinks or liquid cleaning agents from flowing back to the tank. The pipes are made of synthetic material intended for carbon dioxide use.

Only aluminum cylinders are used in the Safe For Food + cylinder program. Not only are they lighter, they are also corrosion-free and can be cleaned more hygienically than steel cylinders. Our cylinders comply with current regulations concerning safety, transport and food safety.
The cylinders are closed off with "a residual pressure valve with built-in non-return valve". The residual pressure function of the valve keeps the minimum pressure within a range of 3 to 8 bar, preventing dust and air gas ingress. Only by maintaining the residual pressure and installing a non-return valve can the high quality of our liquid CO₂ be guaranteed at all times.

The cylinders are filled in special filling stations that are used exclusively for CO₂ filling. The pipes running from the storage tank to the cylinders are made of stainless steel, preventing pipe contamination with other gases or dust particles.
Each cylinder is tagged with a traceability label, providing data about the day and location of filling and also about the operator (who filled and checked the cylinders). The cylinders are filled with liquid carbon dioxide of Safe For Food + quality and are analyzed on a regular basis. CO₂ complying with a product specification that amply exceeds ISBT and EIGA standards is used for cylinder filling.

QC, Quality Control

The Safe For Food + quality control system is based on online monitoring of the most important "indicator" parameters on the one hand, and on extensive final monitoring on the other hand.
Several parameters of the production process are monitored "online". The online parameters are tested to ACP's internal specification, which is based on statistical process control. This internal specification is also much more stringent than the external one guaranteed to the customer. Out-of-range specification parameters indicate that the process needs adjustments.
The final monitoring for the production plants is carried out in ACP's quality lab. Two samples from every production site are analyzed every month. In order to equal the delivery process, two samples of every trailer are taken and tested to all the specification parameters.
Every year, one sample from each of our production plants is analyzed by an external, certified lab. Next to analyses of the specification parameters, these samples are also tested for presence of heavy metals and microbiological activity.
All these test results are at the clients' disposal.

To control the cylinder end-filling process, three randomly chosen cylinders are tested to all specification parameters every three months.

QA, Quality Assurance

The Safe For Food + quality management program is based on ISO 9001 and HACCP, and covers the production, storage and distribution of liquid carbon dioxide. The program is not only tested during ACP's internal audits but it is also periodically audited by an external auditor from Lloyd's Quality Register.
In order to provide absolute food safety, complete traceability is guaranteed. By means of delivery numbers or CMR numbers all relevant data can easily be accessed. (Delivery date, trailer #, driver, time of loading, loading site, analytical data, ...).

Product specifications

Safe For Food + products meet the current EC standards for food applications. The specifications requirement for many components greatly exceed the current ISBT and EIGA standards.