In the food industry, safety is a priority. To prevent consumer harm, you need specialized equipment for identifying contaminants like metals, stones, and glass. Additionally, contaminants can hurt your brand’s reputation and put your production equipment out of operation.
Many food inspection companies rely on X-ray machines and metal detectors to identify foreign contaminants and objects. Which one is right for you? Let’s find out.
The Importance of Food Inspection
Food safety refers to the practice of processing, handling, and distributing food to ensure there is no presence of contaminants or bacteria that can cause bodily harm. Food inspection helps ensure the health and safety of consumers, a collective effort from all members of the food supply chain and industry.
As a result, many food production companies incorporate inspection and detection equipment to get the job done. Equipment such as X-ray machines and metal detectors make excellent uses for food inspection to identify foreign contaminants and bacteria at a quicker pace.
X-Ray Machines
X-ray machines produce short waves of electromagnetic radiation that result in a high amount of energy. The energy passes through objects to identify the density of a product and contaminant.
As the rays pass through the product, the machine sensor converts the produced energy into an image, allowing the operator to identify the contaminant. X-ray machines work on various products, such as beverages, bakery goods, harvested goods, frozen foods, and proteins.
Metal Detectors
Metal detectors help identify contaminants by detecting disturbances in a balanced, three-coil electromagnetic field. While the center coil connects to a high-frequency radio transmitter, the receiver coils connect to the transmitter coil.
Because of the identical design and placement, balance is crucial to identify foreign contaminants. Metal detectors work well for spices, sugar, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, meat, and bakery goods.
Do You Need One or Both?
Depending on the contaminant you’re looking for, one or both systems work well. While the shape of the product and transport system impacts the success of the X-ray machine, materials found in product packaging can affect the process of the metal detector. Lastly, metal detectors can’t detect glass, stone, or bone, while X-ray systems can differentiate the density in free-fall production lines.
Ensuring every product passes inspection laws and regulations is a priority of food safety. At Factronics USA, we provide inspection and detection systems that offer top-class inspections with low energy levels. Our Anritsu products will help reduce downtime, decrease unnecessary rejects, and increase productivity in the workplace. If you have questions about our inspection and detection products, our professional staff will help you find the perfect machinery.