| 摘要 |
Flavouring drums are used in the snack food industry to apply a flavouring mixture to snack food products such as potato chips, tortilla chips, corn chips, extruded snacks and the like. The invention provides an apparatus for applying flavouring slurry to food products as they pass through a flavouring drum 1. The apparatus includes a small mixing vessel 7 for mixing together a liquid, such as an edible oil, and flavouring particles to form a flavouring slurry. A pump 16 is provided to transfer the flavouring slurry from the mixing vessel 7 directly to a delivery means 15, for applying the flavouring slurry to the food products as they pass through the flavouring drum 1. The operation of the apparatus can be controlled in 'real time' and may include rate determining means for measuring or deriving the rate at which food products are supplied to the flavouring drum 1. Control means, optionally in the form of an electronic control unit 11, are provided to control the operation of the pump 16 such that that the rate at which the flavouring slurry is pumped directly to the delivery means 15 is selected in accordance with the rate at which the food products are supplied to the flavouring drum 1. |
