Measuring moisture in cereal and grain-based products

Why measure water activity in low moisture products? Because even when microbial growth is not an issue, many processing problems are related to moisture. Water activity can be significantly more precise than moisture content when monitoring and controlling moisture in your product.  

Deliver the right texture, every time

The right texture can make or break a breakfast cereal, literally.  Water activity helps manufacturers know when loss of texture may become a problem for their product.  This is especially true for products that have more than one component, like raisin bran.  Water activity will predict which components will gain and lose water and whether the final water activity will deliver the correct texture.  

Vitamin verification made easy

Cereals and grains, especially whole grain products, are often billed as “healthy”.  In addition to being a good source of dietary fiber, whole grains contain an array of B vitamins, which can degrade as products sit in a warehouse for months before getting to the store shelf.  Water activity is a better predictor of vitamin degradation than moisture content.