As food contamination regulations tighten, we will see a big shift from metal detection towards X-ray inspection

Perry Alderson, 50, has used his lifetime of industry experience to design and build Euroscan, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, helping clients with production problems such as contaminants, defects, and the processes that create them. 

2 Sisters Gunstones Bakery

The former Cranswick Convenience Foods, Grampian Country Pork and 2 Sisters Gunstones Bakery, employee, told FoodProductionDaily, the biggest issue for any manufacturer is product integrity -safeguarding their reputation as a supplier.

“As food contamination regulations tighten, the capabilities of X-ray machines increase and the cost of them decreases. We see a big shift from metal detection towards X-ray inspection​,” he said.

“That's why we want to show manufacturers the possibilities. The biggest issue for any manufacturer is always product integrity -safeguarding their reputation as a supplier. With the new X-ray machines you can do an awful lot more than just metal detection​.”

Euroscan offers X-ray machine sales and rental and X-ray product inspection service. It can search through a batch of products, setting apart any defective or contaminated products, before returning them back to the customer.

First order from mainland Europe

“Whereas many manufacturers will simply discard a faulty batch, we can recover all the good products, which means they don't have to pay land levies, it's more environmentally friendly and they can save money by not discarding the whole batch​,” added Alderson.

The company is working with customers throughout the UK and recently had its first order from mainland Europe.

“The European customer went to the trouble (and cost) of freighting tons of their product to us because we could guarantee to detect defects they didn't think was possible elsewhere​,” he said.

Alderson designed the manufacturing facility in Barnsley and money was raised for the construction with help from Enterprising Barnsley.

“I spent my engineering career being responsible for breakdowns, fault finding and maintenance, as well as designing systems to prevent problems occurring​,” said Alderson.

“So I understand food manufacturers’ processes, their pressures and their customer constraints​.

“Our X-ray machines can see things that manufacturer's don't expect them to be able to​.

“It's about knowing that you have a problem and knowing what options are out there to help you solve them. To address this, we're launching a free X-ray roadshow where we take a machine out to manufacturers, explain the latest technology and let them trial it with their products and ask any questions they have​.”