Eliminating Irregular Metal Fragments From Your Food Production Line

By Jonathan Richards, Mettler-Toledo Safeline

In recent years a number of food manufacturers have had to recall their products due to metal contamination, garnering strong, global media coverage and damaging their reputations. In this age of automated manufacturing equipment and increased food safety guidelines, how is it possible for a contamination incident to go undetected? Metal contaminants come in all sizes with their irregularly-shaped forms causing the most common product recalls.

One major cause is that modern food and pharmaceutical production lines are making extensive use of automated, high-speed processing systems to increase their productivity so that they can meet growing demand for products, such as ready meals. However, this rise in the use of processing machinery can lead to an increased risk of contamination from metal. Manufacturers in both industries need be able to trust the processing systems and the product inspection technology on their production lines to protect their businesses and their brands from the cost and damage of product recalls.