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Overcoming lubricant challenges in dairy production

11 July 2024

Find out how Mu¨ller Dairy has extended its production uptime thanks to the use of lubricants designed for use in harsh food processing environments.

Ludwig Mu¨ller established Mu¨ller Dairy in 1896 in a small Bavarian village. Since then it grew into a company with national distribution, launching new products such as snack fruit sauce with creamy rice pudding, and twin pot yogurt and fruit. In 1991, Mu¨ller Dairy opened a production facility in Shropshire to meet the rising demand for its diary innovations the UK.

Every day 600,000 litres of fresh milk are acquired from local dairy farmers and processed into yogurt at the Shropshire facility. From start to finish, emphasis is always placed on food safety and quality.

Lubricant challenges 
High temperatures and wash-out have always been particular lubricant challenges in the yoghurt production process. Pasteurizing the milk requires a heating process to kill any harmful bacteria in the milk. After this, the milk is cooled to warm temperatures, allowing the yogurt culture to ferment the milk. To meet high food safety standards and to ensure product quality, regular wash downs of the production equipment are necessary. High pressure water is used to clean the equipment, which in the Mu¨ller Dairy facility was washing away the lubricant in very short periods of time.


Keith Manning, Lubricant Engineer at Mu¨ller Dairy’s production facility, heard about Petro-Canada’s food-grade lubricants from a colleague who had been involved with Petro-Canada at a previous production facility. Following discussion with Petro-Canada all lubrication products to Petro-Canada’s PURITY FG line of products 

PURITY FG products were implemented on all equipment in the yogurt production process. Manning noted improved equipment performance. Commenting on the solution, Keith said: “The success of the PURITY FG applications in the yogurt production process has encouraged us to use Petro-Canada’s lubricants across all processes in all of our facilities. A lubricant solution unique to our needs was created, making the transition seamless. 

Petro-Canada PURITY FG lubricants provide industrial strength protection for food processing applications. Collectively the lubricants are formulated to provide numerous benefits, including longer-lasting protection, good wear performance and, for the greases, high resistance against water washout.

PURITY food-grade lubricants fit well into Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) plans. In addition, they carry a full set of food-grade credentials which include NSF H1 standards for incidental contact.

“With the PURITY FG products in use, we have had extended up-time in our yogurt production facility. these food-grade lubricants have allowed us to save both money and energy,” concluded Keith.

Switching to Petro-Canada as its sole lubricant provider also minimised its lubricant stock holding, resulting in immediate cost reductions. With everything coming from one supplier, logistics became much easier to manage.


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