The food and nutrition industry is facing increasingly
stringent requirements relating to product quality and safety. Extensive
regulations govern the legislative rules that manufacturers must currently
meet.
For instance, both the German Food and Feed Code
(Lebensmittel- und Futtermittelgesetzbuch, LFGB) and the IFS Food Standard
stipulate that food must be free of contaminants. These rules seek to protect
consumers and guarantee product quality. Good manufacturing practice rules
under Regulation (EC) No. 2023/2006 also stipulate that a self-monitoring or
quality control system shall “monitor use of good manufacturing practice” as
part of efforts to safeguard consumer protection. Hazard analysis and critical
control points (HACCP) are another key point here. On this issue, the German
Federation of Food Law and Food Science (Bund für Lebensmittelrecht und
Lebensmittelkunde) writes that “hazard analyses falling under the scope of the
food packer within the meaning of the HACCP concept requires a safety
assessment relating to the entire packaging system, an evaluation of the
influences on packaging and packaging components as well as their interaction.”
Packaging lines use special sensors, scanners and inspection systems to
guarantee the product safety required under national and international law,
depending on their task. The latest trends in quality control will be showcased
by exhibitors at FachPack 2018.
Quality
control in the packaging process
Food packaging primarily serves to protect its
contents against environmental impacts and damage during storage and
transportation. This packaging ensures that food has a longer shelf life by
gasifying it in a protective atmosphere. In modern production facilities, the
packaging line can automatically check whether packaging reliably satisfies all
requirements for this task. Quality is generally safeguarded at the packaging
line using non-invasive systems. This term refers to inspection processes
taking place at the line without individual pieces of packaging having to be
removed for this purpose. These integrated control systems support the food
industry’s mostly high production cycle times while simultaneously ensuring implementation
of all food safety requirements.
These systems allow damaged or rejected packaging
units to be easily ejected without manual intervention by connecting them with
upstream and downstream components in the packaging line. At the same time,
these systems can provide feedback to upstream machines, such as filling
robots, sealing machines and labellers, which can then directly respond to any
identified deviations.
Reliable
air-tight packaging for food
A variety of technologies are available to inspect
different packaging materials and processes. One particular option for primary
packaging is leakage tests. After all, if perishable goods, such as sausage and
cheese, are not packaged in air-tight packaging, this can not only lead to the
product spoiling, but also might even damage the manufacturer’s reputation and
lead to costly recalls. Inline leakage tests are carried out when packaging
using protective gas, for instance employing devices that make use of test gas.
They have sensitive gas sensors that detect even the smallest leaks. Carbon dioxide,
helium and hydrogen are used as test gas.
In addition, sealed seams in packaging, such as
trays and tubular bags, can also be checked using visual inspection systems.
These devices also detect contaminations in the seams and check the position of
labels. Visual inspection systems generally consist of cameras that compare
certain parameters in combination with evaluation software. To this end,
packaged products are guided past cameras during the packaging process. If the
image recognition system detects a deviation from a previously defined
condition, this information will be passed on in the system and defective
packaging will be automatically ejected. The previously defined parameters
include untight packaging and optical defects. The benefit of these systems is
that they are suitable for especially high line speeds.
Detecting
contamination
No manufacturers can fully rule out the possibility
of contaminants finding their way into end packaging during comminution and
processing of food. However, bone fragments in sausage, metal parts from
broken-off blades or plastic pieces of packaging and transport cases are a
worse-case scenario for any food producer. If this happens, entire batches have
to be recalled to avert any detriment to customers. A recall also requires
inspecting the entire line until the source can be clearly identified. This
scenario can be prevented in the first place by using metal detectors, for
instance, which are fitted after the packaging process. Packaging goes through
devices at the end of the process chain and is x-rayed. Metal contaminants are
identified and defective units are ejected.
X-ray technology is used if other types of
contaminants, such as stones, plastic or bone fragments are detected. X-ray
inspection systems identify deviations in product density. X-ray systems can
identify of all kinds of unwanted materials through predefined settings.
Therefore, they are suitable for detecting contaminants and for carrying out
other quality control tasks: clumps of salt can be identified, as can
deviations in product composition. The x-ray device can even determine if the
meat in a ready meal does not correspond to the recipe.
The product and required cycle speed determine
which systems are best suited to perform quality assurance. Many exhibitors at
FachPack 2018 offer stand-alone solutions for these tasks or integrate quality
control into their lines.
