Food Quality Magazine
ISSUE 01 | SUMMER 2014
In the case of product filling in glass
or other containers (plastic, metal)
the standard requires consideration
of installation of a device for packaging cleaning such as turning and
blowing with filtered compressed air,
rinsing, etc.
If the company decides that there
is a need for metal detectors, X-ray
detectors or optical detectors these
devices must be installed and operated in the manner providing for their
maximum efficiency. This mostly means installation of the detector after
the packaging line (except for the
optical detector of glass cleanness
installed after the package cleaning
device before filling) to prevent
contamination of the checked product. The requirement also includes
selection of the appropriate detector
type for ensuring maximum sensitivity. The detector sensitivity is directly
proportional to the aperture height.
Do not purchase a detector with a
high aperture for detection of small
packages (aperture = height of the
opening through which the detected
products pass).
It is necessary to purchase a whole
set of test pieces with varying sizes
and test all product types. Never
rely solely on the recommendations
of the metal detector manufacturer.
The performance of these tests establishes the required sensitivity of
detectors. It doubles as a verification
of the process, which is also required
by the standard and has to be documented.
Equip detectors with an automatic
rejection of potentially contaminated products to a space with limited
access (e.g. locked box for rejected
products). Treat the products as nonconforming. The rejected products
are usually double checked by an
authorised person searching for the
contaminant for the purpose of assessing the possible source and subsequent initiation of necessary measures. If the contaminant is found
to originate from the manufacturing
equipment itself, the measure will
focus on the equipment maintenance. If the contaminant originates
from the supplier, then inform the
supplier and ask for a corrective action implementation.
If visual inspection is used instead
of detection (in the case of compact
products such as meat cuts or in
case of shell egg visual checks) the
employees performing the inspection must be properly trained and
replaced after an adequate interval
in order to keep concentration.
There are non conformities and
deviations issued frequently against requirements of the standard.
Typical examples from real audits
carried out in a number of European
countries are listed below:
• The company packed products in
four packaging lines, two equipped
with X-rays and two without the Xray device which was defined as a
CCP for all products.
• No procedure of control of knives
and metal sieves was established.
• One broken knife was found in the
production.
Test detectors regularly with the help
of test pieces of the specified size.
No standard specifies exact requirements for sensitivity, i.e. size of
the test pieces used, for it depends
on the product type (dry, chilled,
frozen); water quantity in the product; matrix; variability; package size
; and type. Different sensitivity will
be required for packing into standard or metalized foil. Sensitivity
must therefore be specified by the
company with regard to the above.
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