How to keep your food site safe
- Key points
- Beyond the ‘deep clean’
- Increased investment
- Robust X-ray technology
- Absorptiometry technology
With brand values and reputations to protect, clients from UK retailers to export markets are placing ever greater demands on food and drink manufacturers in terms of product integrity.
Processing facilities, and the products they produce, need to be safe, hygienic and clean; often in compliance with a disparate array of industry standards and market regulations.
Alongside such constantly evolving requirements, a service sector of specialists in the field of food safety and hygiene has emerged to help processors navigate the quagmire, while X-ray technology has advanced in detection capabilities as well as functionality.
“Global supply chain complexity, increasing international food regulations and trade requirements, and diversified consumer preferences all apply pressure on companies to consistently adapt to these challenges amidst their own competitive landscape,” says Laura Dunn Nelson, vice president of technical services and business development for Alchemy Systems, developer of the Alchemy Sistem training platform for food manufacturers.
“Over the past decade, Alchemy has worked with the global food industry to develop a fully integrated programme that enables continuous improvement of operations through ‘employee alignment,’” she says.
Another service supplier helping processors maintain product integrity is Kimberly-Clark Professional, which offers The Efficient Workplace, a programme using the principles of lean manufacturing. “It is our goal to help eliminate waste and safety hazards within food production processes and to drive engagement, productivity, quality, cost efficiency and sustainable practices,” says Jenni Bracken, a UK marketing manager for the company. “What we offer is a fresh pair of eyes. Risk areas are identified and measures put in place to deal with them, helping to drive a positive food safety culture.”
Beyond the ‘deep clean’ (Return to top)
Coming at food hygiene from a more specialist angle, meanwhile, is Network Hygiene, a new collaboration created to establish standards for cleaning and hygiene across food environments from commercial kitchens to factories.
“The commercial cleaning sector has a notoriously bad reputation for service quality and we want to change all that,” says Ian McKay, md of the group. “Network Hygiene is about offering a total service solution that goes beyond a traditional deep clean. For example it partners with Just Filters, a company offering a simple, nationwide, exchange service for all types of filter.”
And, at the vital food safety and hygiene focal point of the processing line itself, advances in X-ray detection have made the technology more effective, reliable and affordable.
“We have seen quite a dramatic uplift in customers requiring X-ray equipment,” says Tony Bryant, UK sales manager with Loma Systems. “Five years ago, it was 10% X-ray to 90% metal detectors and now it's 30% to 70%.”
While X-ray machines can ring in at around three and a half times the cost of metal detection kit, “the benefits they bring far outweigh the cost of the purchase”, he says. “Retailers are demanding higher levels of detection in their products. Product integrity is very important; if a product is damaged in any way, X-ray gives a better chance of detecting that. And retailers see certain contaminants as food safety issues.”
Increased investment (Return to top)
Eagle, a third-party supplier of X-ray inspection and fat analysis technology, also reports increased investment in product inspection equipment across markets with well-developed food hygiene standards and regulations such as western Europe or North America, and developing markets like China. “A lot of inquiries are coming from companies meeting the requirements of new markets,” says Simon King, global head of sales, services and marketing at Eagle.
Using X-ray technology not only minimises the risk of contaminated products, but also demonstrates due diligence and traceability. “You can effectively take an image of every product that comes through, and actually relate the product image to the batch,” says King.
For Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection, “awareness of food safety and the importance of product inspection equipment has grown tremendously among food producers in the past 15 years,” says Neil Giles, marketing communications manager.
“A number of contamination and recall issues pushed food safety to the top of manufacturers' priority lists. Consumer organisations and the media as well as regulators and retailers have continuously kept a close eye on the topic.”
Citing the many industry standards in the marketplace from the Global Food Safety Initiative and International Food Standard to the British Retail Consortium Global Standards, set to see its seventh edition in 2015, Giles says “standards and regulations have increasingly paid attention to product contamination, authenticity, labelling and traceability”.
“The willingness to invest in product inspection solutions has grown in line with the development of food safety regulations,” he says. “To meet these demands, product inspection systems must offer high precision, the utmost flexibility and multi-functionality. In times of strong competition on a global scale, these are key criteria to help food producers maintain healthy profit margins and achieve profitability.”
Alan Mutch, quality control business manager at Ishida, says manufacturers are turning to X-ray detection as developments such as social media put even greater pressure on brand reputation.
“Companies are now more open to X-ray technology and understand that investment now protects the business in the longer term,” says Mutch. “Product recalls can range from thousands into millions and an X-ray machine can help ensure the brand integrity. In the main, X-ray equipment prices are reducing, which is making it a much more realistic investment proposition.”
Robust X-ray technology (Return to top)
While X-ray technology has been perceived as unreliable and costly in the past, developments in recent years have ironed out many of the previous problems. “It’s become a more robust, solid piece of equipment,” says Bryant.
In the X-ray sector, Loma supplies the X4, which Bryant describes as “the Mondeo, an everyday machine, selling hundreds of units worldwide”, whereas its recently released X is more like an Audi or BMW.
Using adaptive array technology, the X offers higher detection capabilities for softer contaminants typically more difficult to inspect. Loma’s latest models, including the X and IQ3+ metal detection range, are certified to the IP69K rating of protection against ingress of dust and high temperature, high-pressure water allowing sanitisation.
In addition to hygienic design and layout of equipment, processors must ensure regular, thorough cleaning and hazard analysis critical control point principles are followed, says Bryant, to prevent and inspect for dangerous contaminants and foreign bodies.
Absorptiometry technology (Return to top)
For Eagle, its dual energy X-ray absorptiometry technology can not only “pinpoint contaminants you wouldn’t normally see”, says King, but also conduct fat analysis on meat and simultaneously verify mass. “It ensures when you pass it to the next person in the chain, you get paid the right amount or, if you’re receiving it, you’re getting the right product,” says King. “We’ve seen a tremendous increase in activity in that sector over the past 12 months.
“The guys in the middle are squeezed by the slaughterhouses and by retailers and are operating on pretty slim margins. If you can deliver a solution that detects contaminants but can also figure out to an accuracy of 1% if it is fat or lean, it can equate to a significant amount of money.” Using X-ray technology can also provide a more accurate weight measurement than a checkweigher for certain applications, says King.
“A lot of manufacturers are using X-ray inspection for detection of weight and normal things like seal integrity and fill levels,” he says.
Eagle’s Tall Pro X, launched at Interpack earlier this year, offers enhanced contaminant detection capabilities across a range of applications including high speed cans, jars and bottles. “It has a small footprint, and is very simple to set up and calibrate,” says King. “It’s a bit of a game changer in the industry.”
According to Mutch, meanwhile, greater uptake in X-ray technology has been partly due to its ability to handle the increasing proportion of foil-packed products as well as foodstuffs with higher salt and iron content; beyond the capability of traditional quality control systems.
“As technology improves, better tubes, line sensors and faster processors all play a part in improvements, which result in improved equipment functionality and image quality, which in turn acts as an enabler to improve contamination detection,” says Mutch.
“Our X-ray machines use the highest quality of components, which results in a longer life time machine with no compromise on sensitivity. You can adapt the machine for each different product and not be limited to fixed settings like others on the market.”
