A guide to the role of x-ray inspection in the food industry
If your manufacturing business sits in the food sector, you will likely already know the importance of careful inspection of your product. During the manufacturing process, your product may be susceptible to a range of contaminants, from machinery hardware to other food sources; and it is your duty to remove these contaminants before the products reach the hands of your customers.
While there are many different methods of inspection out there, an x-ray food inspection system is a more thorough and accurate way of checking your products than alternative solutions. Utilising x-ray can allow you to create a consistent and effective screening process, with the ultimate aim of ensuring your products remain contaminant free every time. In this blog, we will take you through the role that x-ray can play in your food inspection practices and why it is one of the best solutions on the market.
- Why efficient inspection in the food industry is so important
- How does x-ray work within the production line?
- What contaminants can an x-ray find?
- Find your x-ray inspection system
Why efficient inspection in the food industry is so important
As a food manufacturer, there is a certain liability that lies with you to make sure your products arrive with your customer in a safe state to consume. Impurities in your products can pose hazards to consumers, particularly if they are allergens or non-edible components that could cause real harm. Contaminants can also cause your food labelling to be incorrect, which puts you in breach of industry standards.
Without having inspection processes in place, you open your business to the risk of negative consequences, starting with customer dissatisfaction and complaints, and extending all the way to potential lawsuits and fines. Inspection practices are also required for certain certifications and compliance requirements, such as from the IFS and HACCP, ensuring credibility and trustworthiness.
Beyond the safety element of accurate checking of your products, having good inspection practices can cut costs for your business by reducing waste, preventing production errors and preventing the need for recalls – making having an efficient process in place a win-win for both you and your customers.
How does x-ray work within the production line?
X-rays work by utilising very high energy to penetrate through solid materials, which can then be transferred into a radiograph. These radiographs allow you to see things that should not be there and their exact location in your products.
The radiograph image will be coloured depending on the density of the materials being screened – so the lighter something appears in the image, the less dense it is – and will enable you to perform real-time analysis of your products and easily locate oddities within your product. In some cases, x-rays can help you to see when something is missing in your final product, including if your mass level is too low.
X-rays can be used at any point of your product line, such as during the sorting processes or as a final check prior to packaging of your product. Our x-ray machines can be used in combination with our checkweighers and metal detectors integrates seamlessly with your existing conveyor systems – allowing you to build an inspection centric comprehensive production line. Plus, by keeping your x-ray food inspection system regularly maintained, you can ensure longevity and accuracy of your process and reduce inspection costs over time.
One thing to bear in mind when introducing x-ray into your manufacturing line is that you will need to appoint a Radiation Protection Supervisor so that you comply with ionising radiations regulations. This person will need to be trained with the machine to make sure your business is following best practices in your x-ray inspection, as well as handling health and safety around using x-ray. The supervisor could be one of your existing staff members or you may choose to specifically recruit for the role: either way, this should be incorporated into your budget and business planning.
Some x-ray inspection systems will include data logging of your rejected products. This means that you can perform real-time data analysis of your products.
Through this, you will not only be alerted when there is an issue with your product, but get in-depth information about what the issue is. This will help you to prevent the cause of the problem for future production. It can also help you auditing processes, as well as reduce waste and increase productivity.
What contaminants can an x-ray find?
The main reason that an x-ray system is the optimum solution when it comes to food inspection is the large number of contaminants it is able to identify. While other inspection systems, such as metal detection, are refined to only specific types of contaminants, x-ray can allow you identify impurities of many forms. This makes x-ray inspection ideal for many different applications within the food sector, ranging from granulated products to frozen food, and in the manufacturing industry as a whole.
This a non-exhaustive list of just some of the contaminants an x-ray machine will be able to identify:
- Glass
- Metal
- Stone
- Plastics
- Bones
- Produce clumps
There are some contaminants an x-ray won’t find, such particularly low-density materials like paper, cardboard and insects, so it is important that x-ray forms only part of your inspection processes and should not be your exclusive checking process.
Find your x-ray inspection system
The benefits of an x-ray food inspection system are clear: they will allow you to detect more contaminants, increase safety (and therefore customer satisfaction) of your products, reduce business costs and increase your business reputation. X-ray can be the key to an efficient inspection process.
If you are ready to implement x-ray into your business, our machines could be the ideal solution. Delivering fast and accurate detection across a flexible range of food applications, these machines can provide reliable screening of your products. We can also provide training for your Radiation Protection Supervisor and put you in contact with independent Radiation Protection Advisors to support your x-ray inspection practices.