X-ray can alleviate portion control dairy difficulty - manufacturer

Mettler-Toledo says its Safeline product, which has been on the market for a number of years, can be adapted for various different dairy applications like ice creams and butter to better ensure a product is contaminant-free and sold at the correct weight.

The manufacturer claims that it continues to work with manufacturers to design inspection systems and conveyors that can be tailored for use with existing production lines and cutting technology.

Cutting it​

According to Mettler-Toledo, cutting can be a particular problem for dairy products like cheeses, which, in the case of varieties like emmental, have holes that can distort product mass and measurement.

A spokesperson for the manufacturer told DairyReporter.com said that Safeline’s detection abilities can be used to analyze a wheel of cheese and more accurately determine through X-ray, where to slice to control weight, reducing product giveaway.

“Holes within cheese can pose a problem for accurate measurement of weight and our mass detection can easily ‘see’ the holes,” ​stated the spokesperson. “Cheese has a tendency to settle at high production speeds. With our systems, this does not pose a problem for accurate mass detection.”​

As part of the design, Mettler-Toledo says the system can also be programmed to automatically reject portions of product that may be under or oversize from reaching the market.

The group said that further portion control developments were not its top priority at present though, with safety being a key driver for ranges like Safeline in regards to product contamination.

“Stainless steel is extremely difficult to detect, and our systems do an outstanding job of this, as well as stone, glass, bone, and other metals,”​ stated the company spokesperson.