Industries
Functional foods
Consistency in functional foods starts with moisture management.
Functional foods balance nutrition, texture, and stability in complex formulations. AQUALAB helps teams with moisture management so products perform as intended throughout development, processing, and storage.
Common moisture challenges in functional foods
Caking & clumping
Protein powders, drink mixes, and plant based ingredients are meant to stay free flowing. When they absorb moisture from air or packaging, they can harden or clump. This disrupts mixing, filling, and dosing, and creates inconsistent product performance.
Microbial Growth
Many functional foods sit near moisture levels that allow microbial growth. Even when moisture content looks acceptable, water activity can be high enough to shorten shelf life or cause failed tests. This creates safety risk and makes release decisions harder to defend.
Precision that supports daily decisions.
Functional foods are shaped by how tightly moisture is controlled. Protein powders can clump if they absorb moisture from the air. Gummies and nutrition products often sit close to microbial limits. Small changes in ingredients, humidity, or storage conditions can quietly push products out of spec before issues show up on the line or in testing.
AQUALAB helps functional food teams see when moisture is safe and when it is drifting by measuring water activity directly, rather than relying on moisture content or assumptions. Fast, repeatable measurements support clearer safety decisions, more predictable shelf life, and consistent performance across batches as products move from production to release.
“To be able to operate as your own lab and to understand water activity, and then to pass along this knowledge is really important.”
Brynn Foster, Founder,
Voyaging Foods
INDUSTRY EXPERTISE
Experience you can rely on
For more than 40 years, AQUALAB has helped manufacturers manage moisture in sensitive products. Our instruments and scientific experts support teams in development labs, production areas, and quality programs every day.
Today, more than 90 of the world’s leading food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and ingredient companies rely on AQUALAB to measure water activity with accuracy and consistency.
This experience gives baked snack food teams data they can trust, share, and stand behind when product quality matters most.
Lab services support
When questions go beyond routine testing, AQUALAB Lab Services provide expert moisture analysis to help diagnose issues, validate results, and uncover root causes.
Explore lab servicesWater activity meters
AQUALAB instruments deliver fast, accurate, and repeatable water activity measurements designed for use in R&D, Production, and QA teams.
AQUALAB 4TE
Fast. Precise. Economical. Meet the renowned instrument that brought water activity to the business world.
- aw in <5 min
- Highly compliant + compatible
- Secure data storage
AQUALAB 3
Lightning-fast total moisture analysis to tighten process control and boost quality.
- MC + aw in one
- Results in 60 seconds
- For the lab or the line
Lab services
Precision lab testing services to confirm quality, consistency, and compliance.
- Accurate results
- Fast turnaround
- Industry standards
Knowledge base
Explore resources, application notes, and expert guidance to help your quality team make moisture management simpler, clearer, and more reliable.
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