lactose, egg, nuts and gluten. Protein and nutrient-rich meals are also prepared for post-surgery clients. Equally, there are many packaging formats, including bulk sharing meals for residential groups to smaller, individual portions to help minimise food waste. Some meals are even presented on returnable porcelain plates.
Given this broad range of different product recipes, preparation processes and portion sizes, metal detection sensitivity and single pass product calibration are extremely beneficial features of their inspection equipment, notes Jansen Director Gerard Schuurman.“ Fortress Stealth metal detectors are renowned for their exceptional reliability, ease of use, safety, sensitivity and hygiene,” confirms Gerard.
Using powerful digital signal processing, Huuskes latest Stealth metal detectors act as a critical control point at the end of six packaging lines. Each meal is top sealed and labelled, providing all of the legislative details, including preparation cooking instructions, expiration dates and allergens, before passing through the metal detector aperture.
Machine sensors feature at every step of the inspection process. As the ready meals feed into each Stealth metal detector at a rate of 30 packs per minute, an infeed sensor detects their presence. The infeed sensor also helps to ensure every product is presented centrally. This is important as it optimises the sensitivity and subsequent performance of the metal detector, notes Gerard.
If there is no contamination trigger, the outfeed sensor identifies the pack leaving the metal detector. Should a meal be rejected as a result of a potential contaminant, the reject sensor will track the removal of the potentially contaminated product into sealed reject bins beneath the machine conveyors.
“ It is a seamless and failsafe process. Each machine is equipped with Fortress Technology’ s own Contact software. This registers every sensor activity, error message and signal. For Huuskes, this data extraction simplifies their documentation process,” explains Gerard.
To assist with the overall flow and layout, Jansen connected Huuskes’ new sealing machine seamlessly to the metal detector. The design team also installed a longer interlocked outfeed buffer conveyor. This assists with logistics ensuring a continuous and consistent presentation of meals which can be packed into containers without product accumulating or getting damaged.
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