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Food Safety Principles

Food Safety PrinciplesFour Principles of Metal Detection:

(Based, in part, on “Metal Detection Guide” from Fortress Technology)

Contaminant Prevention

The first of the principles is based on the fact that you have metal detection system(s) in your production line does not mean there are no worries.  Customer complaints are affected greatly by your effective controls (or lack thereof), poor working practices, and incorrect specifications (carried into the original design plans).  These issues are more common than an actual metal detector failure.

Good manufacturing practices (GMP) focuses on minimizing any contamination because of:

  • proper equipment selection,
  • effective, regular testing,
  • continued education and knowledge of industry standards,
  • customer demands, and
  • legislation that may affect production and processing.

Production Profit

Principle #2 is what everyone (in general) thinks about when it comes to business.  But finding metal contaminant, especially if it is the end consumer finds it (and may have suffered injury), is a much more expensive proposition than the cost of implementing and sustaining an effective metal detection program.  The proverbial “bottom line” can be greatly affected by metal found before shipping in the form of packaging waste, machinery damage, and loss of product.

Contaminated product, once it is shipped, can affect the consumer, create recalls, destroy your company or brand, lead to financial liabilities, and fester possible litigation.  The benefits of a carefully crafted HACCP and a safe, well-implemented detection program will result in reduced failure costs, improve consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty, and safeguard your profit.

Customer Protection

The third principle declares that every food manufacturer or processor, from farm to fork, has a legal, moral, and ethical obligation to their customers, dictating they ensure the greatest level of protection in minimizing contamination of their product. The burden of responsibility lies with the food processing plant for the welfare of the customer as it applies to what comes out of your plant.

Given the increasing regulations and the rising knowledge of the consumer, manufacturers must continually look for the means to eradicate contamination of their products.  Still, processes and procedures may not always mitigate against unforeseeable conditions, and failures can carry a personal cost as it relates to the food on every table.

Face it, when you lose concern for the end consumer, you are likely to end up in hot water, and the cost savings is never worth your failure at the dinner table.

Brand Promotion

As you look to brand your company and instill confidence in your product, branding does more than just maximize sales.  Good branding engenders the consumers’ perception of a safe, quality product, and creates a loyal customer.  Branding is a vital asset to be safeguarded.

Product contamination will bring financial consequences and sales decline. And, if the product recall is large enough, it can destroy your brand, or worse, your company.  This means consistent quality and communication with your customer is fundamental to success.  Rigorous compliance documentation gives you the means to demonstrate that success to your customer.  If the level of loyalty is high enough, a product recall can even demonstrate your concern to the customer.

These four simple “P’s”, Prevention, Profit, Protection and Promotion, should stand as the basis for a successful approach to your HACCP and contamination procedures.  You should never be operating on a reactionary basis on your food production lines.  An aggressive program that gives you the chance to be proactive in your approach will help make these P’s not an afterthought but part of the intuitive thought process in the culture at your plants.

If you’re looking for to purchase a metal detector in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana or Iowa, contact us at:

We also provide audit services on all metal detectors,

And you can purchase metal detection or x-ray inspection test pieces here at

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Floatable Thermoform Test Cards

Some applications involve large tubs, vats, or some other type of product travel where it would be nice to have a test piece that floats. Once again, our thermoform cards provide the simplest solution. We simply insert some type of structure that forces the thermoform card to retain air, which, of course, is what makes it float. We have also manufactured floating rods, which are more difficult because there is less space to close in enough air to make the rod float but is doable.

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We took an ordinary plastic “chip clip” as defined by the customer and embedded the contaminant into the clip. The clip can be attached to the product on the line without damaging or opening the product for testing purposes.

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Bone is a difficult contaminant to find because it can vary widely based on the size, age, and calcium content (as well as feed used) of the animal. After working with several customers, Regal Packaging Services offers Pork, Beef and Chicken Bone Simulate. We have a small range of sizes at a variety of depths to simulate whatever you might expect to find in the product. Our recommendation (assuming your x-ray has visual display) is always to start with a multi-card. Using a multi-card gives you an easy way to test several sizes and depths to determine what matches the bone you’re using. Once you’ve made a comparison, testing the card against the bone you’re looking for, you can purchase a card with a single contaminant for regular testing.

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This small pill shaped test piece is used in a system with a vacuum tube that shoots the test piece through the aperture and returns it to the “home” base. Your system may never be like it, but the point is that we can make a customized solution no matter how unusual or impossible it might seem.

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As you may have seen in some of the other thermoform card descriptions, we can put nearly as many seeds as you can imagine on a single card. Pictured here you will find a wide variety of configurations and contaminants. Just let us know your specs: size of the card (up to 8” x 8”) along with size and type contaminant(s) and we’ll get you a quote as quickly as possible. Working with a multi-card is especially helpful when you are looking for multiple types of contaminants or when you want to determine what size of the same contaminant you are able to detect. In that event, once the size is chosen, you can order individual card(s) for regular, standard inspection and detection.

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There are a wide range of applications that require a test piece much longer than our standard 5” or 6” Testrods. We can make up to 3/8” x 34” or 1/2” x 34” rigid test pieces which can then be extended well beyond that length with a “handle” made of acetal cylinder larger than the 3/8” or 1/2” extension. In the photos, we used a 1” x 24” cylinder handle with a 3/8” x 24” inch extension.

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Test pieces can be made in a variety of sizes and given a pointed end in applications that require the contaminant (metal) to be inserted into a food package such as sugar or some other soft packaged food product. This allows the metal to reach the center of the aperture.

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Double-End Test Whips are also available, with metal in both ends. One consideration is to make certain that the whip is long enough to keep the metal on the non-testing side of the whip outside the metal free zone of your detector. If you insert, for instance one end of a whip with 2.0mm and 3.0mm Ferrous, you need to make certain that the 2.0mm metal doesn’t affect the detection of the 3.0mm metal (and vice versa). If the 3.0mm metal is inside the metal free zone, then the detector will be reacting to the 2.0 as well as the 3.0 as if they were combined.

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Multi-seed laminate test cards are designed for seeds 4.0mm or less. Multi-cards are useful in x-ray inspection to determine what sizes and types of contaminants your system can achieve. They can be especially useful in temperate environments and applications. If your application is rugged or wet, or your standards are larger, we recommend our thermoform multi-cards.

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We can simulate a variety of packaging in an application where you need the test piece to mimic what is traveling down the production line. In this case, we manufactured a clear “package” with the seed inside. With this method, the customer is able to reject the container appropriately, and, in the event the package is not rejected, it is easily seen by the line worker for manual removal.

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There are two types of “candy bars” pictured here – one similar to a flat candy bar and the other in a custom, near perfect copy of a candy bar. Since we’re now able to produce many variations using colored material, the copy was made in red (Fe), green (NFe) and blue (SS 316). We have the equipment to accomplish nearly anything you can imagine, and these kinds of designs are proof positive.

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Need a test piece that looks and handles like chicken nugget? We can do it. Interestingly enough, in this situation, our first version for the customer left too much “void” in the hole where the metal was placed. Given the sensitivity the customer system was using, the void had the effect of causing false positives. We were able to minimize that hole and supply the test piece with almost no void. It’s an example of how we can work with you before, during and after manufacturing to ensure all the specifications were met.

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Our standard acetal card is 2 1/4"x3 3/8,” but if needed, we can cut that size down to as small as 1 1/4” x 1 1/4” (with limited engraving). If a larger card or a card with multiple seeds is needed, see our Custom Shape-Size Blocks and Tablets.

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This distinctive test piece was created to mimic an actual hamburger patty. The customer supplied photos of the raw product, which we were able to reproduce and then we placed blue glove contaminant. Using this configuration, the customer was able to determine what size piece the vision scanning system could detect with the raw burger as the background. Had they simply used a blank card with the glove, the system could easily have achieved contaminant rejection, but they needed to be sure the system could “see” the blue against the product itself.

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A card with 100 seeds in a 10x10 configuration is used to place beneath whole chickens on a production line. This gives the x-ray system operator the ability not just to see IF the equipment can detect the metal in the card, but also WHERE the equipment can detect it. If there is a problem, the operator (or company) can make any changes necessary to achieve the end goal – safe chicken in this case. This card really highlights another valuable facet of our thermoform cards.

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In this scenario, a company processing sugar needed to have a “bag” simulated with the same weight in order to accurately fall through the reject mechanism. A lighter test piece had the risk of passing over the reject mechanism.

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Our standard cubes are 1” and 1.5,” but we can also manufacture other sizes if needed. The cubes shown here are 1/2" in dimensions. Cubes can be helpful in applications where a ball or cylinder may bounce or roll away during testing, making their retrieval difficult, or, in some cases, present a hazard to the product or production equipment.

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This is a test piece that is dropped into a bottle. It’s designed so that the metal appears in the center of the aperture when testing the metal detector. In addition, the round stop makes the test piece easily removable after testing.

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Hexagonal Shaped test pieces can be very useful in places where a cylinder or ball might roll or bounce around a production floor whether dropped by a line worker or ejection from a reject mechanism. Hexagons are similar in weight to the 1inch cylinders without having the smooth, rounded cylinder edge.

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Our customer in this plant needed a test piece with a thickness less than 5.0mm. Because we have the capacity to customize sizes and shapes, we were able to mill down a product that met their specifications. That’s always our goal, meeting the specs you need for your product, testing environment and contaminants.

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We can custom cut nearly any shape needed to fit your application. At times, you may want the test piece to look like your product in its raw form or after packaging. In many instances, we can supply the standard colors for ferrous (red), non-ferrous (green) or stainless steel 316 (blue) used in food and other industries. If your project is larger than 1” in thickness, we can always manufacture in white and color the letters.

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This flat tablet or card with multiple seeds and a diagonal configuration is used for x-ray inspection. The various contaminants are different densities and represent the type contaminants that might appear in the end product. We can manufacture a broad array of sizes and thicknesses with as many contaminants as needed for testing your x-ray inspection equipment.

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Sometimes a cylinder or “puck” is needed to mimic product shape moving down the line. We’re not limited to any particular shape. Pucks can range from 3/4" all the way up to 8.” So, if you’re running hamburgers or some other puck shaped product, this may be the solution you need.