Brithish Horse Feeds nutritionist, Dr Tom Shurlock, visited the largest beet pulp factory in the world (Wissington, UK) where the beet pulp in Speedi-Beet comes from... Braving the highly advertised October storm, we met up with some personnel form Bailey’s Horse Feeds to visit British Sugar at Wissington to see how the beet pulp that makes Speedi-Beet is produced. Wissington is huge. It looks like something straight out of an early Doctor Who – all steel pipes, giant rotating drums and drying vats; control rooms, steam and noise! It is the most amazing process that wastes nothing, has a minimal carbon footprint and gives us a beet pulp of exceptional quality and purity. And it’s all done without chemicals! The only addition is water. The beets, which were seed dressed to reduce the need for insecticides etc., are mechanically defoliated at harvest (again – no chemicals) and brought into Wissington from local farms. They are washed, sliced and steeped in only hot water to remove the sugar. The pulp shreds are then pressed and dried. Some countries use additives such as calcium sulphate, at this point, but not Wissington; just mechanical pressing and hot air. And then they are pelleted. Again some processors use a pelleting aid at this point, but not Wissington. And that’s that. A product where over 95% of the sugar content has been removed with nothing more than hot water, leaving an additive free product that British Horse Feeds can convert into Speedi-Beet. We do this by using a patented process involving just moisture and heat, and no chemicals whatsoever. And Wissington’s green credentials? Everything is used. The washed off soil and stones go for topsoil (think the Olympic Arena) and aggregate, the sugar rich water goes to produce products such as betaine (an important metabolite), bioethanol, and waste heat and carbon dioxide - which is captured. These are piped to the biggest greenhouse you’ll ever see (40 acres) to grow tomatoes. Here they use no insecticides or chemicals – introducing biological systems (bees for pollination, species of wasps to attack whitefly) – and this gives us an indication of how green issues dominate the whole process from planting to finished product. British Horse Feeds do have specific requirements that ensure consistency of product, and by using dedicated supplies to our specification, we can ensure that Speedi-Beet is derived from a material that is a green, additive free product of the highest quality. Oh, and they’ve even found a use for the sugar! Apparently it can be fed to humans.
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 19:15:41 +0000
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