False rejects are the ‘worst thing’ that can happen to
a food manufacturer, but more needs to
be done on traceability.
Robert Rogers, told the audience it is important to
have prerequisite programs in place because of the high level of false rejects.
Lockable
reject bin: Many conditions in the environment can affect metal
detector performance ie, airborne electrical interference, plant vibration and
temperature fluctuations. Strict control should be observed in the processing
equipment in special with the metal
detection machines.
When products end up in the reject bin sometimes the
operators take them out and put them through the machine again. If it doesn’t
detect a problem they let it go through.
However, if a product falls into a reject bin, it
needs to be locked away and taken to a lab because you need to know what the
source of the problem is and why it was detected in the first place. We need
more traceability.
PowerPhasePRO:
Rogers said the PowerPhasePRO model was launched in response to feedback
from customers and observations from clients. In reality you want the product
to be secure and take it to a lab to prevent the detection from happening
again.
The metal detection equipment is a notification device
but it’s what we do with the product that is rejected that makes all the
difference. If a reject bin is not secure, anyone can remove the package, take
it out of the bin and pass it through again.
He added manufacturers need to figure out what the
source of the problem is, prevent it and alert the operation. We need to find
out why there are so many products in a reject bin. Put a preventative measure
in to stop it from happening and make sure the facility itself is not
contaminating the product.
The 'Challenge
test': In the world
we live in today, we need some means of documenting the ‘challenge test’,
‘changes in the system’, whether it is hand written or via electronic record,
we have to have a validation procedure in place to prevent contamination.
Rogers said there is no technology today that can
detect human hair, or an insect leg, for example, but ‘never say never’ and one
day detection equipment for these types of systems might be invented.
Recalls: Recently
there have been a number of recalls regarding PP (polypropylene) or UHMW
(ultra-high-molecular weight polyethylene) – plastics that are not detected in
machine processing so firms need a ‘good food program’ in place and an
automated reject device is ‘the preferred mechanism’.
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