Moisture analysis plays a vital role in all areas of the food industry, from goods-in inspections, through quality control, production and storage, to the development of new products. In nearly all cases, the prepared ingredients have an optimum moisture content, providing the best possible taste, consistency, appearance and shelf-life.

Moisture determination therefore ensures consistent product quality. The food industry is under constant pressure to keep costs at a minimum, whilst producing enormous quantities and maintaining uniform quality. The determination of the moisture content therefore needs to be conducted in a reliable way, and often at speed, so that interventions in the production process can be made quickly, to avoid interruptions or even production stops.

There are several types of methods available for analyzing the moisture content of foodstuffs, one of them being thermogravimetric measurements, such as oven drying, halogen/IR drying and microwave drying.