X-Ray Inspection of Bulk Food Products
METTLER TOLEDO Safeline's x-ray inspection systems for bulk foods are designed to ensure quality assurance in a wide range of industries including meat, poultry, fish, seafood, fruit, vegetables, snacks and confectionery. Typical applications include the inspection of bulk-flow food products to ensure quality before they are packaged for distribution or added to other ingredients in further down line processing.
X-ray inspection systems for bulk foods are specifically designed for detecting physical contaminants such as glass, metal, mineral stone, high density plastic and calcified bone - regardless of their shape, size or location within the product. Contaminants are easier to detect in bulk-flow food than in final packaged products as they are typically inspected through a homogenous layer of product. This can mean the depth of the inspected bulk food product is much smaller than in a final closed-pack.
A homogenous layer of bulk food product is achieved due to the combination of a troughed belt and an adjustable levelling plate, maintaining a consistent depth of product, which is optimum when inspecting bulk foods. This providing outstanding detection sensitivity. High throughput capabilities mean our x-ray inspection systems can run at high line speeds, maintaining required productivity levels.
Consideration should be given to the location of bulk x-ray equipment on the production line. When placed early in the process, systems can inspect incoming goods or raw materials enabling contaminants to be removed at source and quickly traced back to the supplier. It also means that physical contaminants are removed before further value is added to the product, saving costs.