Electrostatic adhesion in food

Electrostatic adhesion is a significant force in painting and other industries. However, coating of food items uses powders and targets with properties that are far from ideal for electrostatic coating. In addition, the adhesion must last a long time in order to be useful. The goal of this study is to determine if electrostatic adhesion is significant in food coating. A range of food powders were coated onto different kinds of food samples electrostatically and nonelectrostatically and the adhesion measured. Electrostatic powder coating increased the adhesion of most food powders onto most food targets. Some correlation was found between effectiveness of the process and resistivity or oil content of the target, resistivity of the powder, and particle size. At low relative humidities, electrostatic adhesion lasted for several weeks, long enough to be valuable.