The trend towards using simple fruit gums as an alternative dosage form for food supplements or medicines has greatly increased the demands placed on confectionery machine manufacturers in terms of product quality and safety. In recent years, Winkler und Dünnebier Süßwarenmaschinen GmbH (WDS) has been gradually expanding its product portfolio while enhancing the hygienic design and cleanability of its confectionery machines.

Thanks to the implementation of the accepted quality standards of the pharmaceutical industry, WDS draws on a wide range of possibilities in order to embed the quality-relevant product requirements of its customers in its plant technology and the associated plant qualification.

So far, it is mainly OTC products (i.e. over-the-counter products), supplements and nutraceuticals that have established themselves on the market. However, in some countries, companies are beginning to emerge that are distributing pharmacy-only or even prescription-only medicines in the form of jelly products. On a global level, more and more products are being approved by the relevant regulatory authorities. Strong growth rates have been registered for a wide variety of active additives ranging all the way from vitamins to THC to painkillers.

WDS already set the course towards optimising its efforts in the pharmaceutical market back in 2019 with the registration of the sweetOTC brand and the establishment of a dedicated department for this field. As a result, confectionery manufacturers can now utilise individual processes employed by the pharmaceutical industry, such as batch tracing, for their quality assurance or choose from comprehensive packages of measures.

For WDS, it is customary to take hygienic design into account as early as the development stage of new plant types. For units with high hygienic demands, such as depositors, processes such as cleaning, set-up and maintenance are designed to be as efficient as possible.

The underlying risk assessment with regard to product quality and safety is decisive for the selection of the manufacturing process to be employed for an OTC product. “Basically, all conventional manufacturing processes for confectionery come into consideration for the production of OTC products. However, we see a clear trend towards starchless plant technology,” explains Janik Hoffmann, Leader of TB-Pharma at WDS. Starchless plants deposit mass into polycarbonate or silicone moulds or sometimes directly into individually wrapped and portioned blister packs. Depending on the requirements profile, however, the conventional mogul method can also be used for OTC production. While the process favours cross-contamination due to the mould starch used, it is also more flexible, e.g. in terms of the possible product shapes.

WDS aims to offer its customers plants and services tailored to their specific requirements, as it is only on the basis of recognised customer-specific risks that a package of measures can be developed to support confectionery manufacturers with a tailored, economically viable solution for their next product.