FoodEurope Issue 4 2016

54
analysis & control
Unique requirements for product inspection
Eagle Product Inspection (Eagle), a leading provider of physical contamination detection and quality
assurance equipment, has just returned from Pack Expo 2016 where it showcased a variety of
single and dual energy inspection systems.
X-ray inspection is widely
recognised as the go-to
technology for contaminant
detection, but are companies
equipped with the correct energy
levels to take full advantage of its
capabilities? Eagle Product
Inspection has the answers with
regard to single or dual energy
systems, and had experts on stand
providing advice and guidance
based on customers’ unique
requirements.
Many believe that dual energy is
always best – however, there are
five factors to consider in the
equation that impact hugely on the
choice of technology. Less can
sometimes mean more in the world
of food contaminant detection and
decisions need to be based on the
following:
n Likely contaminants
n Product type
n Packaging type
n Production speed
n Specification requirements.
Single energy is extremely
effective at identifying small
contaminants, such as calcified
bone, glass shards, metal
fragments, mineral stone and
some plastic and rubber
compounds, when a manufacturer
needs to inspect smooth
homogeneous products like butter,
or deli meats at high line speeds.
Dual energy is more effective
where high contrasting or ‘busy’
images are presented, where lots
of light and dark pixels are caused
by density differences in products
such as bags of lettuce, boxes of
cereals and potato applications.
Dual energy x-ray technology
overcomes busy output images
from traditional single energy
systems by examining the chemical
composition or atomic number to
determine if a contaminant is
present.
At Pack Expo, Eagle showcased
three x-ray inspection products
which highlight both energy types:
Eagle FA3/M (Dual Energy)
This is a multi-application system
that provides inline fat
measurement and
contaminant detection for fresh,
chilled, frozen and hot-boned loose
bulk, frozen or tempered
(‘naked’) meat blocks and
unwrapped meat conveyed in
plastic crates. The FA3/M is an
excellent example of Eagle’s
sanitary design and complies with
IP69 ingress protection, meaning it
is capable of withstanding high
pressure wash-down cleaning
routines.
Eagle Pack 430 with MDX
(Dual Energy)
This was designed for x-ray
inspection of mid-sized packaged
products and multi-lane
applications in the Food, Pet Food
and Pharmaceutical/Personal
Care industries, the Pack 430 PRO
on display featured Eagle’s dual
energy Material Discrimination X-
Ray (MDX) technology, designed
to detect foreign bodies previously
unseen by single energy x-ray or
other conventional inspection
means in difficult product
applications.
Eagle Tall PRO XSDV
(Single Energy)
Designed for the inspection of
high-speed can, jar, bottle and
composite lines, as well as other
upright container formats that
benefit from having two x-ray
views to improve inspection
www.foodmagazine.eu.com issue four | 2016