Foreign Body Detection in Food with Fortress Technology

Food safety is paramount in the food industry and foreign body detection plays a crucial role in protecting consumers and upholding brand integrity. 

In August 2023, several products were recalled after being found to contain small metal fragments. This incident highlights the risks associated with contamination and the importance of rigorous quality control measures.

Fortress Technology is a leader in providing innovative and efficient solutions for detecting and removing unwanted contaminants.

This post explores Fortress’ advanced technologies and their commitment to ensuring food products meet the highest safety and quality standards.

What is a foreign body?

A foreign body is any unwanted object that can be found in food. These objects can be difficult to detect, posing significant risk to consumers.

Foreign bodies fall into two categories:

• Intrinsic: Naturally occurring within the product (e.g., fruit stones, bones). 
• Extrinsic: Introduced during the food supply chain (e.g., metal, glass, plastic, wood, hair, insects). 

With strong food safety processes, many of these contaminants can be prevented from leaving your facility. Metal is a particularly frequent contaminant due to stainless steel equipment in food production. Poor maintenance practices often contribute to this risk. 

For more insights, listen to Fortress’ podcast on Foreign Material Control. 

The effects of foreign bodies in food.

Foreign bodies in food can have a wide-range of consequences for both consumers and manufacturers. Unlike chemical or biological contaminants, these objects are often visible, triggering consumer complaints. These incidents can cause severe reputational harm, making it challenging to rebuild consumer trust.

The Food Standards Agency regularly issues updates on food alerts, product withdrawals and recalls, highlighting the substantial financial and logistical burdens these events impose. 

Contaminated products lead to wasted inventory, costly recalls and could cause harm to consumers leading to potential legal liabilities.

Fortunately, these risks are preventable with the implementation of advanced inspection equipment designed to meet the specific needs of your production process. 

By reliably identifying and removing foreign objects, manufacturers can ensure product quality, safeguard their reputation and maintain the confidence of their customers.

Eliminate foreign body contamination with Fortress Technology

At Fortress Technology we recognise that each sector faces specific challenges in foreign body detection.

Our approach goes beyond simply offering equipment. We’re focused on demonstrating how our technology directly addresses specific industry needs, providing compliance and confidence in food safety practices.

Bakery and Confectionery: Ensuring Product Safety in High-Volume Production

In bakery and confectionery production, where handling high volumes is essential, maintaining safety and quality is paramount. Fortress Technology’s metal detectors are expertly engineered to function reliably in bulk production environments, ensuring consistent performance where it matters most.

Our advanced metal detection solutions provide top-level sensitivity, detecting even the smallest metal fragments to preserve product integrity.

• Optimised for Bulk Production: Fortress metal detectors are tailored for high-volume bakery and confectionery lines, effectively safeguarding product quality.
• Automatic Testing with Halo Technology: The Halo Automatic Testing system simplifies performance checks, ensuring that detectors consistently meet safety standards without disrupting production.
• Seamless Integration: Built for easy installation, our systems integrate smoothly into existing production lines, supporting efficiency and safety with minimal disruption.

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Meat and Poultry: Built for harsh washdown environments

For the meat and poultry manufacturing, strategically identifying and managing Critical Control Points is essential to uphold standards, protect product integrity and minimise waste. 

Meat processors must rely on inspection systems that can withstand rigorous sanitation processes. These systems need to provide reliable detection to ensure product integrity, operational efficiency and compliance with food safety standards.

Fortress Technology’s rugged pipeline detectors are specifically designed for wet, unpackaged products and are equipped with stainless steel construction.

Our solutions ensure:

• Food safety assurance: Reducing the risk of potential contaminants leaving your facility.
• Durable design for harsh conditions: With IP69K-rated protection, our detectors endure the most demanding washdown environments.
• Improved productivity: The easy-to-integrate design ensures smooth operations with minimal downtime.

You may also be interested in: Beefing up HACCP meat inspection standards

Packaged Goods: Efficient solutions for various packaging materials

Packaged food products present a unique challenge when it comes to metal detection, particularly with the growing variety of packaging materials. 

To overcome packaging challenges, install your inspection equipment prior to the packaging process. For example, Vertex which is installed between multi-head weigher and bagging lines.

As a result, they enable achievements such as:

• Enhanced accessibility and control: As Vertex units are often placed in hard-to-reach areas, our remote control panel enables operation from the factory floor, improving safety and efficiency. The integrated Halo feature allows remote testing without accessing difficult locations.
• Compact and easy to install: The Vertex system’s slim design fits easily into production lines with limited space.
• Optimised for packaged Goods: Using a Vertex unit before final packaging enhances detection levels, overcoming the limitations packaging can impose.

You may also be interested in: FORTRESS HELPS NUT SUPPLIER CRACK METAL CONTAMINANT FALSE READINGS

Bulk Products: Detecting contaminants in free-falling goods

Maintaining product safety is vital for bulk processing industries such as grains, flour and rice. 

Product purity directly affects supply chain integrity and cost control. Bulk food processors often depend on complex supply chains, so rigorous quality control at every stage is crucial to prevent contamination. 

By prioritising product quality, processors can minimise risks, avoid costly recalls and safeguard their financial performance.

Fortress Stealth Gravity Metal Detector’s are ideal for free-falling goods and include an automatic reject mechanism to remove contaminated products from the production line.

• Reliable contaminant removal: Our systems ensure that only uncontaminated, high-quality products are packaged and distributed.
• Minimise waste: Efficient rejection systems reduce product loss while maintaining quality control.
• Maximise performance: Our detectors integrate seamlessly into your existing production flow.

Invest with Fortress

Fortress Technology offers the perfect solution for your food production needs. Providing unparalleled technology and quality for foreign body detection, ensuring that:

• Your products are safe.
• Your production is efficient.
• Your brand reputation is protected. 

For more information on Foreign Body Detection in Food with Fortress Technology talk to Fortress Technology Europe