Top 5 metal detection tips
Fortress Technology upgrades its metal detectors in compliance with M&S revised code of practice
The company claims food manufacturers are under greater pressure to adhere to increasingly stringent levels of compliance, third party audits and an ever-changing inspection market.
Food is exposed to different processes
Sarah Ketchin, managing director, Fortress Technology, told FoodProductionDaily, metal remains the biggest and most likely contaminant risk within a food processing and packing plant because food is exposed to different processes - from cutting meat, filleting fish, grinding spice or mixing dry and wet baking ingredients.
“Food processors can feel overwhelmed by the sheer breadth of choices for technology because as well as a number of standards given by the BRC (British Retail Consortium) every major retailer has its own policy where they add extra functionality and tests to their machinery,” she said.
“It can be a bit of minefield because unfortunately if a supplier doesn’t take the idea of modifications into consideration at the beginning, they can struggle to meet on-going specification changes.
“For example, M&S recently changed its guidelines on metal detectors by adding an extra sensor on the reject line. This adds a physical restraint for suppliers because it means they need to accommodate for extra space on the end of a machine.”
FM software
Ketchin said all of the metal detector manufacturers are aware of the features each of the specifications have and as soon as a new amendment comes out it gives them additional functionality, or they have to upgrade.
“M&S made the announcement directly to its suppliers, but other retailers such as Tesco are very open and announce any changes in their code of practice on its website, which is open to the public. We rely on our customers and suppliers to flag any changes to us.”
She added Fortress Technology released its FM software last year to analyse and process the signal from a product, with a 40% sensitivity increase when inspecting challenging products such as meat, cheese and coleslaw.
“The sensitivity of a detector is dependent on many factors: aperture size, operating frequency, product speed and environment. Most limiting is conductive (wet) products which act like metal,” said Ketchin.
“‘Product effect’ remains a challenge for all metal detectors, but over recent months there have been some sensitivity advancements.
“As technology advances, manufacturers can do a lot more calculations and processing of information by analysing the signals of a product as it goes through a metal detector.
“Fortress Technology is now focusing on how customers can record, via USB information such as rejects and faults in addition to test records and results - all vital for audit compliance in one place which can be easily shared with colleagues.”
Fortress Technology top 5 tips on investing in a metal detector or upgrading an existing system:
- Don’t overlook testing procedures and record keeping. In food environments, testing requirements are getting increasingly complex. We advise running detection and rejection of test samples on an hourly basis, at the beginning of a product run or at a shift change, and whenever any settings are updated or changed (always check the industry standards and auditing requirements for testing frequency and procedure).
- Consider installing metal detectors at specific checkpoints along the manufacturing process. Leaving it until the end of the production line could result in high levels of false rejects and unnecessary disposal of good product and packaging. An area survey prior to delivery and installation is recommended.
- Auto-assessments are useful when system access and positioning or environmental conditions hinder testing.
- Investigate system compatibility before making an investment. Our ‘Never Obsolete Commitment’ is a backward-compatibility programme which enables customers to upgrade any existing Fortress detector to help food processors remain compliant.
- Foil challenges. Generally speaking, metal detectors are capable of phasing out and running products packaged in laminate foils with a good level of sensitivity. However, pure aluminium foil, i.e. an oven ready tray, may be too challenging and a ferrous in foil detector would be recommended.
