Will X-Ray Inspection Replace Metal Detection In Food Processing?

PACK EXPO 2014 took place at Chicago’s McCormick Place November 2 – November 5. Food Online’s Editor Sam Lewis attended the event and had the opportunity to speak with several of the event’s attendees and exhibitors.

Lewis spoke with the show’s representatives, exhibitors, and presenters about a wide range of topics: from the latest solutions in food-packaging and food-processing technology, to how product-inspection and traceability technologies are evolving alongside federal and global food-safety regulations.

In particular, Lewis caught up with Terry Woolford, GM and CEO of Mekitec Americas. Woolford spoke with Lewis about Mekitec’s efforts to help food manufacturers and processors comply with HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) driven by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and Safe Quality Food (SQF). Woolford continues that notion, saying that manufacturers must provide due diligence and look after the products they make. Finally, Woolford believes that X-Ray product inspection will soon knock off metal-detection systems as the primary means of identifying foreign-body contaminants in food due to a wider range of detectable contaminants and lowered costs of implementation.