Food Marketing & Technology - India May 2019 | Page 39
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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