Is Metal Detection The Right Inspection Technology For Your Food Operation?

By Melissa Lind, contributing writer

Despite regulations requiring food-industry participants to develop processes that reduce foreign-body contamination, contaminants still manage to make their way into finished products. Below are some points to think about when considering metal-detection technology in your company’s proactive approach to contaminant detection.

Coming from a wide variety of sources, metal contaminants can enter products at any point in food-processing, manufacturing, or packaging lines. Metal fragments in food lines can come from bulk materials, equipment, people, and just about any other point in the food-producing environment that metal exists.

With metal being one of the most-common food contaminants, metal-detection systems are an important tool for product inspection. Detection of metal objects can be accomplished through a variety of technology platforms, but simply purchasing a system doesn’t offer adequate protection. The purchased system must be installed, maintained, and managed according to specific recommendations. Further, each of these recommendations varies according to the manufacturer. When considering a metal-detection platform, there are few points to consider, including: 

Sensitivity
Even though all metal-detection systems are able to detect all metals, one size does not necessarily fit every food product. Different systems have varying capabilities in terms of size, packaging considerations, and flexibility. Ferrous metal is generally easy to detect, as it is magnetic. However, other, non-ferrous metals, while detectable, present more of a challenge. In order to select the right system, the most-likely metal contaminants must be identified while figuring in occasional anomalies.

Installation Point
Manufacturers should consider the points that are most likely to introduce metal contaminants in the food-processing line. Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) evaluation should be used to identify points where inspection systems should be installed. Identified locations should be compared to the capability of metal-detection technology to ensure a match. Multiple or early inspection points can help to minimize end-product contamination and avoid costly quarantine of potentially-contaminated products.

Integration Into Existing Systems
Considerations of the production-line capability are also important. The potential metal-detection system must be compatible with current equipment — both in terms of physical requirement and in terms of communication. The ideal metal-detection system will integrate with the packaging or processing equipment controls in a seamless, compatible relationship with single-point operation.

Maintenance Requirements
In addition to validated installation, metal-detection equipment must undergo routine verification and maintenance to maximize efficiency. Maintenance may vary from system to system, but new equipment should be easy to maintain. Many newer systems offer modular construction so that personnel already located within the plant may perform moderate maintenance by simple replacement of modules, rather than requiring a specialist technician to be called.

Identifying and controlling foreign body contamination in food-production lines is no longer a luxury; it is a necessity. Compliance with food-safety legislation and lost profits are both clear drivers for adherence to robust quality-control processes. However, food producers should be aware that maintaining brand loyalty, along with potential for inflated sales and lowered recall costs are also major incentives for proactively reducing metal contamination with metal-detection technology.