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Safe Transport for Muesli

Soft cushioning in a modified atmosphere

Alongside a hot cup of coffee or tea, cereal boxes are a staple item on breakfast tables in many countries. Whether served with milk, yogurt, or cream, breakfast cereals are packaged with the help of vacuum, provided by vacuum pumps from Busch.

The word “muesli” is one of the very few Swiss German words that, with some small spelling variations, has made its way into languages throughout the world. This well-known and well-loved food was originally intended to be eaten as an appetizer. Today, the mixture of oats, nuts, and dried fruit is best known as a breakfast dish, with almost endless possibilities to customize it to suit different tastes.

Kept fresh in foil

While muesli and granola created on-site to an in-house recipe are all the rage in fancy brunch restaurants, most muesli eaten at home today comes pre-packaged from a shop. To keep the nuts crunchy, the oats fresh, and the dried fruit chewy, this cereal needs a special protective atmosphere. Tubular bagging is the most common way of packaging muesli and is a method that relies on vacuum. The oat mixture is inserted into a tube made of plastic foil and is put into a tubular bagging machine. There, a vacuum pump removes all the air from inside the tube, and each end is closed to form a bag, leaving just the food inside. Bags of muesli will have air pumped back in again before the bag is completely sealed – but this is air with a difference. Known as a modified atmosphere, this gas is usually a combination of oxygen and carbon dioxide, a mixture that will keep the muesli at its best for longer. And preserving the food is not the only benefit: Re-adding this modified air gives the cereal some extra cushioning.

Moving, holding, and opening

But vacuum is not just about removing the air – it gets involved in other stages of the process too. A tubular bagging machine also uses vacuum in another practical way. The foil tube that is used to make the bags is moved into position and held in place with vacuum. Even the cardboard box that surrounds the bag of breakfast cereal has met vacuum during its construction. Vacuum is applied on either side of the flat-packed box to pull it open, creating its rectangular shape. This box then surrounds the bag inside, giving the cereal some extra protection to avoid too many crushed flakes. For each of these applications, Busch can provide the necessary vacuum pumps for reliable vacuum generation and perfectly fresh muesli.
The traditional healing muesli

Muesli was created as the ultimate health food. Dr Maximilian Bircher-Benner, a doctor in a Swiss sanatorium, first came up with the idea as part of treatment for tuberculosis. After suffering from jaundice, he attributed his swift recovery to his raw food diet and became convinced of its healing properties. The traditional recipe of Bircher muesli is now named after him, but at the time, it was known as “Apfeldiätspeise” (“apple diet meal”). This name drops a big hint about the key ingredient in the original recipe. In fact, the whole recipe hinged around grating a raw apple in its entirety – including even core and seeds – into a bowl of oats and nuts. This was served with water, lemon juice, and condensed milk. The variations found at the breakfast buffet in hotels today may differ slightly: Typical substitutes are for something sweeter than lemon juice, like orange or apple juice, more exotic fresh fruits, or dried fruit rather than fresh. But, even though it is no longer touted as a miracle food, the association of muesli as a healthy and satisfying start to the day remains.