X4 X-Ray Marks The Spot For Central Food Services
Central Food Services, a family run frozen meat processor in Birmingham, has installed a state of the art Loma X4 X-ray machine and a CW3 checkweigher to inspect and assure the highest product safety and regulatory compliance.
Central Food Services sources and packs frozen meat and has successfully grown in a short space of time operating out of an A-grade BRC accredited site which houses a state of the art food processing hall and a large cold store. The company processes a variety of frozen meat products, including their flagship Four Bird Roast, which combines four different meats (turkey, chicken, duck and goose) all in one roasting joint.
The company is constantly striving to ensure the highest quality standards and as part of this drive they wanted to inspect every single product meticulously prior to despatch to ensure each product is free from foreign contaminates, whilst also adhering and complying with the retailer’s COP and BRC regulations. It was important to specify the appropriate inspection solution as the majority of the company’s products are packed in tin foil trays, which means that inspecting such products with a standard metal detector is not possible as the metallic packaging would overload the signal of the metal detector. The Loma X4 X-ray machine was the ideal solution as this unit has the ability to inspect product in foil trays and automatically remove contaminated products from the packaging line giving complete peace of mind that every pack that arrives on the supermarket shelf is contaminant free.
Central Food Services has 97 different specifications of products, all of which can be pre–programmed and stored in the X-ray system. Then the operator simply calls up the product code and the accept/reject thresholds for that specific product are defined, this ensures easy product switchover to maximise uptime. Changeover is accomplished in about 30 seconds on the colour touchscreen control panel whilst no mechanical changes are needed.
Steven Davies, Production Manager of Central Foods Services commented, “We have always used Loma in the past and found their machines to be very reliable and the Loma X4 X-ray system is no exception. The Loma X4 is easy to use and is simple to recall and set up new products, which has really reduced downtime, this system has helped us guarantee our customers receive the highest product quality and food safety.”
The Loma X4 X-ray was strategically installed at the end of the production line, after the shrink wrapper has sealed the pack, this ensures there is no risk of subsequent contamination; this is the ideal place to situate the X-ray and is normally the preferred choice of location to comply with BRC and many of the retailer’s code of practice. The Loma X4 incorporates high-speed technology that maximises sensitivity to both metal and non-metallic contaminants such as stainless steel, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, glass, stone, calcified bone, high-density plastics and rubber, plus it is robust, reliable, hygienic and simple to use, offering customers a sophisticated, easy-to-operate and multi-functional inspection system. To complement the line, Central Food Services also bought the next generation Loma CW3 Checkweigher, to weigh each product individually. With an accuracy of +/- 0.6g, the Loma CW3 Checkweigher can easily verify pack weights to ensure weight and retail compliance. Furthermore, the checkweigher has a USB connection and a PC interface making it easy to produce diagnostic and statistical reports of performance with an option to download these either to memory stick or to a factory network. “The CW3 checkweigher has surpassed our expectations in terms of accuracy and ease of operation and we have received a really good friendly after-sales service,” comments Steve.