03
2018
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10
How can metal detectors prevent the incident of needles hidden in strawberries?
Following the first Australian "needle in strawberry" incident in Queensland, similar incidents occurred in six states, including New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, leading to the removal of Australian strawberries from domestic shelves and the cancellation of imports by foreign countries, plunging the Australian strawberry industry into crisis. According to the latest report from CNN, following the "needle in strawberry" incident, Australia has also discovered needles in apples, bananas, and mangoes.
The impact of metal foreign object contamination on businesses
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01
Direct Impact
Consumer claims and complaints (Article 96 of the Food Safety Law stipulates that consumers can claim ten times the purchase price from producers or sellers), resulting in losses for manufacturers; supervision by relevant government departments such as industry and commerce and health, with serious consequences including revocation of business licenses, removal from the market, and business closure; potential damage to machinery by sharp metal objects, increasing machine maintenance costs;
02
Indirect Impact
Damage to brand image; long-established brands may disappear overnight due to a single safety incident;
Decreased consumer trust and a shift in consumer preference towards competing brands;
Companies need to invest significant resources to mitigate the negative impact of the incident;
How Businesses Can Improve Safety Prevention
Sources of Metal Contamination
First, we need to understand the sources of metal contamination:
Where does the metal come from?
1. Raw Materials
Metal impurities mixed in raw materials, such as screws, iron fragments, metal parts from loading areas, and metal labels from the transportation process;
2. Maintenance Work
Metal wires, small tools, welding slag, cutting chips, and cut wire segments generated during cleaning and repair;
3. Production Process
Worn-out mesh screens and metal debris that may be generated during cutting, mixing, stirring, sorting, and transportation;
4. Human Factors
Due to lax management, there may also be some human factors: rings, hair clips, buttons, coins, keys, paper clips, etc.;
Safety Prevention
Knowing the sources of metal contamination, businesses must implement strict management and control to fundamentally reduce metal fragments. However, even in highly automated and well-managed businesses, the possibility of product contamination during production cannot be completely eliminated. Therefore, if a product is contaminated with metal, we must ensure that the contaminated product does not reach the market. Therefore, in addition to eliminating metal contamination at the source, the use of metal detectors and the establishment of an effective foreign object detection mechanism are essential to achieve a fundamental solution and minimize the occurrence of metal contamination incidents.
Maiya Technology Company's product line includes four series: industrial metal detectors, security metal detectors, product weighing equipment, and X-ray foreign object detection machines. Different detection schemes can be set for different products to detect iron/stainless steel/copper and other metal impurities in raw materials, semi-finished products, and finished products, automatically setting detection parameters, simplifying manual operation, and automatically removing substandard products.
This needle incident serves as a wake-up call, highlighting the need for food companies to prioritize food safety and consumer health, resolutely upholding safety standards.
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