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Mettler-Toledo introduces advanced X-ray for ‘hard-to-find’ contaminants
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Wednesday, 28 September, 2022, 14 : 00 PM [IST]
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Royston, UK
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Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection has launched its most advanced x-ray inspection technology to date, delivering a remarkable leap forward in the ability to detect low density contaminants in packaged food products. The new technology will help food manufacturers avoid product recalls, reduce unnecessary product waste costs and enhance product integrity and brand protection. State-of-the-art Mettler-Toledo DXD and DXD+ dual energy detector technology is optimised for identifying foreign bodies such as calcified bone, low-mineral glass, rubber and some plastics. These types of contaminants are traditionally hard to detect within the ‘cluttered’ or ‘noisy’ x-ray images generated by overlapping and multi-textured products such as packs of pasta, chicken breasts, sausages and frozen potato-based goods. Such applications are a perfect match for DXD and DXD+ advanced detector technology, in conjunction with intuitive new Mettler-Toledo Advanced Material Discrimination software tools. The software helps to separate and remove the prominent material of the food product within the x-ray image, revealing the presence of any lower density contaminants. As a result of the accuracy and reliability of DXD and DXD+ detection, food manufacturers can be more confident that their products are safe for consumers, and that they will benefit from reduced False Reject Rates and product waste, helping to deliver a fast return on investment. The outstanding performance of this cutting-edge technology has been shown in tests conducted by the company, in which a range of different foreign bodies were hidden in 650g packs of chicken breasts. The table below illustrates these results:
Contaminant
type
(embedded
bone of 2mm thickness or less)
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Smallest
size detected with 100% Probability of Detection (P.O.D) using
single energy x-ray
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Smallest
size detected with 100% Probability of Detection (P.O.D) using DXD
or DXD+
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Aluminium
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3mm
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2mm
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Low
Mineral Glass
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3mm
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2mm
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Rubber
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6mm
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5mm
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Wish
bone
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Undetected
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100%
detection
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Rib
bone
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Undetected
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95%
detection
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Fan
bone
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Undetected
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30%
detection
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Detection of low-density contaminants was even more graphically illustrated in tests using a 500g bag of pasta:
Contaminant
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Size
detected with single energy x-ray
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Size
detected with DXD or DXD+
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Aluminium
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5mm
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2mm
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Low
Mineral Glass
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5mm
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3mm
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Rubber
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Undetected
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6mm
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