Food Marketing & Technology - India May 2019 | Page 39

www.fmtmagazine.in challenges while maintaining a far more affordable capital cost and cost of ownership. X-ray Detectors: The X-ray technology is well-known because of its use in the health care sector. This technology can also be used in the food industry for the inspection of food to detect the presence of physical contaminants and to study the internal structure of food products for quality purposes. X-ray systems can inspect right through the food packages to detect very small contaminants inside. This type of system provides the ultimate foreign object detection and therefore many companies are employing X-ray systems when using the latest packaging materials. When X-ray systems are used to measure density, they can find any dense, sharp-edged contaminants like metals, non-ferrous metals, stones, glass, PVC plastic, bones, ceramic, Teflon plastic, sugar or flavour clumps. On the other hand, X-ray machines cannot detect some contaminants such as: paper; cardboard; wood; hair; insects; thin glass; low-density plastics; or low-density stones. X-ray systems are small in size and they can be easily added into a Presence of foreign objects in food increases the risk of consumer dissatisfaction, regulatory risk, chances of a product recall, and in some instances it may damage the brand image production line. Products like frozen foods and hot products may change their state over the day when going through the production line. This may cause tracking issues that compromise detection sensitivity. In this situation, X-ray systems are very helpful as they are unaffected by the electrical “state” of the product or its temperature. A few years back, these X-ray systems cost 5–10 times more as compared to metal detectors. But today, these systems have pricing similar to metal detectors. The latest advancements in this technology have made X-ray inspection systems more affordable, reliable, and easier to use with improved image quality and detection capabilities. Ultrasound: The ultrasound-based measurement of foreign objects in food is a promising method because it has the capability to differentiate the discontinuity of acoustic impedance between different regions within a given volume. In addition to this, it does not spoil foods physically or hygienically when used in non- destructive mode. The foreign objects are different from food in terms of acoustic impedance. The presence of foreign objects in food results in reflections, refractions and scattering due to the discontinuity in acoustic impedance along with the sound propagation path through the food. Many other ultrasound propagation parameters like attenuation/ absorption, backscatter, velocity and nonlinearity are used. This detection system is capable of detecting fine foreign objects of various materials such as: glass contaminants. Also, they are capable of detecting foreign objects inside juices in glass bottles. Conclusion The advent of new, smarter, easier-to- use and greater sensitivity technology has replaced the older technology. Also, the equipment vendors are adapting to upcoming changes in the food industry such as: consolidations; processing innovations; and packaging requirements. All of this has led to the availability of plenty of systems for the detection of foreign objects in foodstuffs. To ensure food safety and quality, the technology should be complemented by quality control practices like HACCP and GMPs, and by proper training of personnel. With the proper implementation of such detection systems in the production line, illness or injury to consumers can be avoided. * Food Safety Professional Email id: [email protected] Food Marketing & Technology 39 May 2019