X-Ray Technology Solutions and How to Approach the Problem of Foreign Matter in Manufactured Food Products

insights from industryMarcus JohnsonXRF Applications SpecialistEvident Corporation

In this interview, Dr. Marcus Johnson talks about X-ray technology solutions and how to approach the problem of foreign matter in manufactured food products.

How critical is it to identify the sources of foreign materials in food production and safety?

Capital cost can become high if you let a foreign material out into the market from your production line. Shutting down the plant for stoppages and conducting blind searches will ultimately cost you in capital. Secondly, there is the impact to brand reputation. Whenever there are slips in quality, the brand name loses some of its recognition because customers do not feel confident that they will be getting a quality product.

You cannot fix what you cannot find. If a metal fragment came across your production line, you would need to know what that material was to trace it. This could help you understand if there is a failing component on your production line and exactly where that failing component is. This can prompt you to have preventative maintenance so that pieces and components, when worn and damaged over time, can be changed before they become a bigger problem.

How can XRF help in ensuring food safety standards?

XRF is a tool capable of providing nondestructive testing that can help in tracking different contaminations and constructing prevention programs for the future.

Why should you consider adding XRF to your quality tool belt? If you find a fragment, you can analyze it for its chemical composition. Subsequently, you can compare the results to pre-built libraries stored on the analyzer or the in-house facility. This process can potentially help you trace the fragments back to their source.

What are the key benefits of XRF technology?

The benefits of XRF are numerous. One of the primary advantages is its speed; XRF analysis provides the total composition of a metal fragment in just a few seconds. In comparison, many field tests take much longer because of complex processes such as acid digestion of the metal.

A second benefit is that XRF technology is nondestructive. This means that samples can be preserved for further testing or future reference. You can store and retain your sample. This allows you to keep samples from your production line on hand and refer to them in the future if you come across a similar material.

XRF can accommodate very small samples. In analytical testing, a small sample size is often needed to obtain an accurate result. As long as the XRF is in front of the X-ray beam, it can provide a valid and full chemistry of the material.

This ties into benefit number four: XRF provides total chemistry. A composition can have a variety of distinguishing characteristics. There may be elements in one alloy that are not in another.

XRF is an extremely precise analysis tool for multiple elements. Some elements with lower concentrations may be harder to detect than those with higher concentrations. However, the multitude of elements in your sample, 25 to 30, will be highly precise.

Another advantage of XRF is that it is very safe. The XRF analyzer will only emit X-rays when there is a voltage across its anode. The older models used isotope sources that consistently emitted radiation over time. However, we do not have to worry about this with modern XRF analyzers. X-rays will be generated if there is no voltage source across the anode.

X-rays travel in straight lines. As long as you point the detector away from you to scan a sample and never point it at any part of your body, the detector is extremely safe. Additionally, it is portable. You can take it with you in the field; you do not have to bring samples to the detector. You can move the detector around and shoot samples on the production floor at different times and locations. This is very convenient if you have large, bulky samples that cannot be moved around.

What is Evident's Vanta technology? How can it help ensure food safety and quality control?

The Vanta™ grade library comes with over 700 of the most common commercially available alloys. We are also capable of adding custom grades to our libraries. If you have a stainless steel material that is not in our grade library, we could scan that material, generate specifications, and add it to the library.

All equipment made of metal, whenever possible, should be scanned to build up a comprehensive library of all the chemical compositions of the materials that could reach the production floor. If there is anything, any hardware that may be seen, any metal that could be on the production floor, such as rings, earrings, or loose change, all of these items should be scanned and added to the library. These custom-built libraries will help you identify products if metals enter your production line.

Identifying these fragments can help you find out issues that may be more problematic. If you have a hardware component in the production line that is failing and adding fragments to the product over time, you would want to identify and replace that component. You would also want to conduct a root-cause analysis and take preventative measures.

If any new equipment is introduced to the production floor, you can always test its grade to determine if it is similar to the last material and if it meets the specifications for inclusion in the production line for your next set of products.

An extensive library helps users to quickly identify and track foreign materials back to their source.

How does Evident's remote visual inspection line contribute to enhancing production efficiency and quality control?

Evident's remote visual inspection line could be valuable for your production line. Sometimes, you may have components critical to the production line that are not directly accessible or visible, but you still want to monitor them over time. In such cases, having remote access to these parts for periodic checks can be incredibly useful.

With this capability, you can detect failing components or potential issues without stopping the production line for an entire day to visually inspect the system. Instead, you can use remote visual inspection tools to capture images of the different parts at different intervals, providing time-lapse imaging as you progress in your production.

How do the camera feature and work station capability of the XRF contribute to enhancing user experience?

One of the key features of XRF is a collimated camera. This includes a panoramic and an aiming camera. The panoramic camera functions similarly to the camera on your smartphone, allowing you to capture large-frame pictures of your sample. The aiming camera, on the other hand, provides a view of the sample and what the detector sees when you are analyzing it.

Another notable feature is our work station and desktop app. When combined, these components transform the portable XRF into a desktop-like system. With Wi-Fi® capability, you are not restricted to having the XRF hardwired into your computer; measurements can be taken remotely via Wi-Fi, allowing the computer and the XRF instrument to be in completely separate locations.

This setup also streamlines data handling. While in handheld mode, data handling mainly involves using a USB stick to transfer data to your computer. However, when the Vanta analyzer is hardwired to your computer, you can easily transfer data to network folders and perform other tasks directly on your computer. This convenience enhances the overall Vanta experience, making it more user-friendly and enjoyable.

How are the one-click reporting and barcode scanning features of the XRF useful for food safety and quality control analysis?

A useful feature available of the XRF technology is one-click reporting. When you are creating reports and documents or building extensive libraries, having data stored in an easily accessible location is very important. With our one-click reporting feature, you can effortlessly add a one-page document for any material to your overall report. The layouts are customizable, simplifying the documentation process for different materials found on the production floor.

We also offer a customizable notes feature, which proves useful when you need to update analyst details, input different part numbers, or change the name of a part.

Coupled with the notes field is the barcode scanning option. Using our panoramic camera, you can generate the notes field before scanning your material. This allows you to scan the barcode, automatically populating the notes section, thus ensuring traceability and documentation. This can speed up the data entry process and minimize human error. Our system is compatible with most 1D and 2D barcode formats.

This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by Evident Corporation.

For more information on this source, please visit Evident Corporation.