Contiguous rows (2a) of shortbread slices and the like food products exiting an oven on a belt conveyor (4) are spaced apart at regular intervals (2b) by an apparatus (1) comprising two parallel belts (8,9) trained around respective pulley pairs (10,11;12,13), a plurality of rods (18) mounted between the belts (8,9) and extending transversely to the direction of advance of the food products (3) on the conveyor (4), a corresponding plurality of blocks (24) mounted slidably on the rods (18) and provided with fingers (31) adapted to engage the food products (3), and means (34) of spacing apart the blocks (24) on each rod (18) at the working run of the belts (8,9) and means (35) of approaching the blocks (24) at the return run.
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