Food & Beverage

Meeting consumer demands for variety, quality and freshness with food-grade gases for chilling, freezing, packaging, transport cooling, carbonation and inerting applications

Filetsteak (medium fryed) on a plate decorated with green asparagus and rice. View on a table decoration.

Overview
Processes
Solutions
Gases
Supply
Services

BOC has been helping food producers meet their operational challenges for over 50 years. We work closely with the food industry to develop and deliver smart solutions that support greater productivity while maintaining tight control over food quality and security.

Complementing our full lineup of food-grade gases and mixtures, we also offer cryogenic freezing and chilling technologies that overcome existing capacity limitations by dramatically accelerating freezing times. Our freezers are designed to lock in nutrients and reduce the dehydration that impairs freshness, taste and texture – so consumers can buy high-quality frozen food with an extended shelf life.

We also promote product safety and extend shelf-life with a range of bespoke modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) solutions. In addition, we can help ensure the integrity of your product during transit with dry ice and liquid gas cooling solutions. Our expertise further extends to applications such as drinks carbonation, inerting and controlled atmosphere stunning.

Seeing is believing – at our test centre

We are keen not only to put our expertise to work for you, but – more to the point – to also empower you to make the right choices. That is why we founded the BOC ‘Food Technology Centre’ in Oxfordshire, UK.

It features our full portfolio of freezing, chilling and packaging equipment, including freezer cabinets, tunnels with traditional wire mesh or plastic conveyor belts, and self-stacking spiral freezers. Our experts will trial your specific products to advise on the solution best suited to your needs.

CRYOLINE Cryogenic Freezers

State-of-the-art CRYOLINE® cryogenic freezers that outperform all other freezing methods to optimise productivity while delivering superior flavour and product quality

ACCU-CHILL bottom injection chilling system

ACCU-CHILL In-line Chilling Systems

ACCU-CHILL® in-line systems to chill ingredients for improved storage and handling plus FROSTCRUISE® in-transit refrigeration systems to maintain food hygiene during transport

The picture is a close-up of the flowpack machine, it shows salad before it is packed with the flow pack machine. It was taken during a photoshoot in Spain.

MAPAX Packaging Solutions

Bespoke, natural MAPAX® solutions to extend shelf-life without altering the physical or chemical properties of foodstuffs or adding any unnatural ingredients

Nitrogen (N₂)

Nitrogen is used in Modified Atmosphere Packing (MAP) to prevent oxidation and reduce odours

Liquid nitrogen (LIN) is used in cryogenic freezing & chilling applications

Nitrogen can also be used for food inerting applications and for increasing the strength of plastic drinks bottles

Gas mixtures

Oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide can be combined in various quantities to produce the ideal preservation gas for any food type.

Food Grade Gas - Product Factsheets

Carbon Dioxide (CO₂)

Carbon dioxide is used in Modified Atmosphere Packing (MAP) to inhibit the growth of fungi and bacteria

Liquid carbon dioxide is used in cryogenic freezing & chilling applications

Carbon dioxide is used in the carbonation of fizzy drinks and for food inerting applications

Oxygen (O₂)

Oxygen is used in Modified Atmosphere Packing (MAP) to maintain the quality, flavour, texture and appearance of food

Food Grade Gas - Safety Datasheets

Cylinders

BOC Food Fresh cylinders and Manifolded Cylinder Pallets (MCP) have been developed for food businesses using modified atmosphere packaging (MAP).

Food Fresh cylinders can be supplied as single gases or as mixtures. Your BOC sales and technical specialist will advise on the appropriate mixing equipment, or pre-mix cylinders. Where a pre-mix gas is chosen, BOC will advise on the exact gas mixture for packing your product.

Cryospeed

BOC’s Cryospeed service gives you access to larger volumes of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide in cryogenic liquid form. These are stored in fully maintained stainless steel vacuum-insulated vessels on your site and are filled by our Cryospeed operators. Our storage vessels are set up for the pressures, flow rates and sizes appropriate to each customer. All rented vessels are fully maintained under the supply agreement with BOC.

Bulk

High gas volumes can be stored in BOC bulk cryogenic vessels. These are installed at the customer’s site, providing a continuous and secure supply of oxygen, nitrogen or carbon-dioxide. Our Customer Engineering Service (CES) designs, installs and maintains the vessel in line with customer requirements and in compliance with all the relevant regulations (such as the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000). Our On-Stream service can also cover customer-owned systems.

On-site generation

For those needing generated nitrogen, the BOC Ecovar-mini range provides an on-site generation solution at a range of pressures, flow rate and purity. On-site generation requirements are assessed on a site-specific basis to ensure the resulting set-up will cater for your needs now and in the future.