Whether for a regular audit, drop-in inspection, mock recall or review of existing HACCP compliance plans, food safety is never far from the minds of meat and poultry processors. Food safety checklists are often within reach to prevent or respond to potential issues.
As processors work with compliance checklists to make sure their operation is in line with local, state and federal regulations like the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), along with international food laws and regulations, they respond to vulnerabilities with technologies tailored to their products and plants. X-ray food inspection is one tool in the multi-hurdle approach to food safety that is put in place at critical control points for continual protection against foreign materials.
When processors install food x-ray inspection machines at critical control points to find and detect contaminants such as calcified bone, metal fragments, glass shards, some plastic and rubber compounds and other foreign bodies, they also are able to monitor and verify that measures were taken at those points in the process. Eagle’s advanced food x-ray inspection systems, powered by proprietary SimulTask PRO software, are designed for use in harsh environments like meat and poultry facilities, and allow for superior scanning, enhanced visibility for users, and easy-to-retrieve product information and images for validation and verification purposes and procedures, including HACCP compliance.
Advanced x-ray technologies can be used to scan for foreign object detection in raw product, as well as product that is pumped, further processed and packaged.
“We have decades of experience in the red meat and poultry industries, and understand the challenges in the production of these products, from handling trim to deboning processes to the many different types of packaging applications. Our x-ray machines and fat analysis solutions reflect that knowledge and expertise,” says Michael Stuart, Global Meat Industry Manager for Eagle Product Inspection.
For example, with a robust, hygienic construction, the Eagle RMI3 Series for red meat and poultry is uniquely designed for use in wash-down environments to inspect unpackaged bulk, open crate and closed carton applications. The RMI 400 for poultry, recently introduced, is designed for advanced detection in poultry products, which pose their own challenges with very small bones at slaughter. In addition, the RMI 400 features a beneficial design without radiation shielding curtains, therefore preventing damage to the product.
To help with validation and verification procedures needed in HACCP plans and to stay compliant with FSMA and with requirements from the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), Eagle offers optional TraceServer software that manages critical inspection data remotely on a PC or network database. Eagle also has a user interface called the Eagle Repository™ that enables a quick review of production statistics and manually-saved images, which can be transferred from a USB memory stick to a network or PC.
To learn more about Eagle’s full spectrum of x-ray technologies and software systems that enhance food safety and help ensure compliance with regulations, requirements and recommended practices, visit https://www.eaglepi.com.
