How does Kraft Heinz maintain the iconic taste and texture of Jell-O? Discover how their Mason City plant transformed sugar content testing with METTLER TOLEDO’s Easy Brix refractometers, achieving precise results, streamlined workflows, and consistency in every batch.
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Measuring Sweet Success: The Secret Behind Jell-O’s Perfect Flavor |
Measuring Sweet Success: Precision on the Kraft Heinz Production Line
In the bustling Kraft Heinz factory in Mason City, Iowa, quality control is as essential as the flavor in every Jell-O snack. With more than 40 samples analyzed daily, the team faced the challenge of ensuring precise sugar content measurements across three production lines. Traditional methods, prone to operator variability, demanded a better solution.
Enter METTLER TOLEDO’s Easy Brix refractometers—a game-changer for the Mason City plant. These compact, reliable instruments transformed sugar content analysis, delivering accurate, temperature-controlled results in seconds. From base gelatin solutions to final formulations, the Easy Brix streamlined workflows, ensuring consistent flavor and texture for every product.
Discover how Kraft Heinz’s adoption of cutting-edge technology ensures the quality its loyal customers expect, one sweet measurement at a time.
Faster Sugar Content Measurements on the Kraft Heinz Production Line
With three production lines, four working shifts, and more than 40 samples analyzed per day, Kraft Heinz needed fast, simple, and accurate sugar content measurements. METTLER TOLEDO’s Easy Brix instruments solved a sticky problem.
Kraft Heinz is a globally renowned producer of high-quality foods. Their factory in Mason City, Iowa, United States, produces the famous Jell-O gelatin and pudding snacks, including a sugar-free line. To ensure that sugar content is rigorously assessed, both for flavor and to comply with regulations, quality personnel determine the Brix of raw materials as well as final products.
From manual to digital
Roy Vega supervises the Mason City QC department. With an existing set of handheld refractometers that required frequent adjustments and technical know-how to use, he was looking for replacements. The main goal was to “reduce operator dependent results,” says Mr. Vega.
A fast, straightforward solution was offered by METTLER TOLEDO’s Easy Brix instruments. Installed near the production line, five of these compact benchtop refractometers are now used to measure °Brix at three production steps, testing first the base gelatin solution, next a solution composed of colorant and flavor powder, and finally the formulated product. The standard, sugar-based line has a Brix value of roughly 18% w/w, while the sugar-free contains 1.35–2.00% w/w.
Mr. Vega told us, “Our results are critical to ensuring the product has consistent flavor and texture; the amount of gelatin is important to ensure the final product forms a gel.” To the latter point, Brix analyses must be performed at a controlled temperature – 23.9 °C, which the instruments accommodate.
The Easy Brix refractometer’s simplicity and accuracy have benefited operations in the Mason City plant, helping Kraft Heinz to maintain the flavor and quality its legions of loyal customers expect.
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Julia Werder |
Julia Werder is Senior Product Manager at METTLER TOLEDO, where she oversees the complete density line, driving innovation and product excellence.
With a master's in food science from ETH Zürich and prior experience as Head of Quality Control at a manufacturer of pharmaceuticals and specialty foods, Julia brings a unique blend of technical expertise and industry insight. Since joining METTLER TOLEDO in 2015, she has held roles ranging from serving as an application specialist in titration to managing portfolios of melting and dropping point instruments, refractometers, and density meters.