The wider detection capabilities and accuracy of Ishida’s x-ray inspection technology are enabling a leading Dutch ready-to-cook potato specialist to achieve the highest food quality and safety standards. In particular, the Ishida IX at Quik’s Potato Products is able to identify foreign bodies, including metal and stones, to around 0.6mm in size in aluminium trays.
Quik’s Potato Products produces a range of added-value potato dishes including potato wedges with garlic, new potatoes with sea salt and rosemary, and gratin potatoes with grated cheese. The company uses no additives and preservatives in its products, which makes it imperative that product is processed on a ‘right first time’ basis to maximise its retail shelf-life.
Prior to the installation of the Ishida x-ray inspection system, Quik’s had used a metal detector to maintain quality standards. While this helped to ensure there were no foreign bodies in the products from equipment used during the manufacturing and packing processes, it was not able to carry out detection in the aluminium trays that the company was increasingly using. In addition, the original raw potatoes can contain stones and other contaminants from the ground which, despite rigorous inspections at harvesting, may occasionally remain in the product after processing, and these could not be identified by metal detection.
