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Quality assured product inspection and fat analysis innovations safeguard consumers against inferior products and help reduce the number of recalls
Chicago, Illinois, November 2, 2014 – Eagle Product Inspection, a pioneer of x-ray and fat measurement technology, soared into PACK EXPO International 2014 with five advanced innovations for manufacturers in the meat, food and beverage industries. The new product inspection solutions unveiled at the show are designed to guarantee product quality and safety, and optimize manufacturing efficiency. At booth S-1640, between November 2-5 2014, Eagle presented x-ray inspection machines for numerous packaging options such as rigid containers, carton and crate applications, as well as inline fat measurement solutions for high volume packaged or unpackaged meat products.
Kyle Thomas, Strategic Business Unit (SBU) Manager, Eagle Product Inspection stated: “In 2013, the United States Drug Administration (USDA) issued 75 recalls, of which 13% or 331,732[1] pounds of products contained extraneous materials. All our product inspection innovations serve to safeguard consumers against substandard products whether from foreign body contamination or packaging defects, thus protecting manufacturers against brand-damaging and costly product recalls. To help all manufacturers meet food safety standards and guarantee product quality, we have designed a number of technologies for specific product and packaging requirements. Manufacturers now producing products in rigid to metal packaging can be assured that even the smallest physical contaminants are detected. Plus, meat producers can be confident that their products contain the correct lean content and are contaminant-free.”
At PACK EXPO, Eagle presented its latest innovation for the meat industry, the FA3/C, for the first time. Analyzing 100% of product throughput, the system accurately measures the lean and fat values of raw meat such as beef, pork or lamb contained in sealed cartons, vacuum sealed packs, or open crates, and provides protein and moisture calculations. The FA3/C uses UPSHOT™ compact x-ray imaging geometry for improved precision which provides unparalleled contaminant detection and weight measurement, while also delivering the smallest factory footprint in the industry. To accommodate different inspection requirements, the FA3/C increases production uptime though PRODUCT SWITCH™, Eagle’s product changeover feature. Eliminating the need to manually switch products, PRODUCT SWITCH simply scans the package’s bar code automatically adjusting inspection parameters ‘on-the-fly’ while the production line is operational, thereby increasing system uptime. For manufacturers producing loose bulk flow or frozen blocks of unpackaged meat, the FA3/B system is specifically designed to calculate fat, protein and moisture values, plus provide reliable contaminant detection. Both the FA3/C and FA3/B deliver results of better than +/- 0.5 Chemical Lean (CL).
Featuring the most advanced sanitary design for harsh environments, all systems within the FA3 Series design adheres to the rigorous American Meat Institute (AMI) guidance for sanitary machine construction. These systems deliver unobstructed sightlines and contoured surfaces to reduce potential material harborage areas for fast sanitation and hygienic inspection. The machine’s superior construction guarantees reduced downtime, as they can be completely disassembled by a single person within minutes for thorough sanitation, and then quickly reassembled and placed back in operation.
[1] http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/recall-summaries