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Concentrating on food safety and quality goals for your products helps determine the right choice in inspection systems.
FOOD SAFETY and quality assurance have always been important for processors, but with increasing retailer demands, high consumer expectations and stricter governmental regulations, they are absolutely critical. If foreign material is found in a packaged food or beverage product produced at your facility, then your brand or business is potentially facing a PR storm or much worse.
Both X-ray and metal detection machines can prevent a lot of headaches. But if this is your first time purchasing a system, determining which is right for your operations can be confusing, since you need to consider all factors, such as cost and life expectancy. Or perhaps, your plant is looking for a new replacement model or upgrade. The following article has some tips and advice to help you make the right detection system choice.
INFLUENCING THE NEED
In today's food and beverage processing operations, ensuring all food and beverage products are free of potential foreign material is critical for processors. That process begins even before ingredients and materials are used in your facility.
"Contamination threats exist at all steps of the food chain, so it is up to processors to protect consumers from the start," says Bob Ries, lead product manager of X-ray inspection and metal detection for Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Keeping products free of contaminants is important for protecting a food and beverage company's reputation and the consumer, of course, but it is also crucial for the operation's food safety plan.
"Retailers are increasingly wary of protecting the reputation of their brands, as product recalls can be extremely damaging and very costly," says Christy Draus, marketing manager for Eagle Product Inspection. "Consumer expectations, too, continue to be high due to the sheer amount of information that is available to them."
Consumers are increasingly interested in knowing how a product is produced, its provenance and the procedures and processes it undergoes, she says. People now expect only the highest-quality products to make their way onto the retail shelf, and with social media, it is easier for consumers to publicize any dissatisfaction.
"The ready access to social media channels means that even the smallest lapse in quality control can...