Metal detectors help keep food

Working in the food industry means stringent regulations must be followed. As the manufacturer of containers specifically for the food industry, Huhtamaki Packaging (www.huhtamaki.com), which is a plastic injection-molding and thermoforming manufacturer, sometimes has to take an extra step in its manufacturing process to ensure that its products are safe. Based out of Finland, Huhtamaki is a worldwide company with operations in North and South America, making containers and lids for the retail and fast-food industries. With a number of major national accounts, Huhtamaki produces a variety of products and their corresponding lids; its customers produce the food product and fill the containers.

When Huhtamaki entered a contract with The Dannon Co., Inc., more than a year ago, the yogurt company requested that every container be run through a metal detector before being shipped. Dane Benning, senior industrial engineer for Huhtamaki, chose E-Z Tec® metal detectors from Eriez (www.eriez.com), and he hasn't regretted that decision since. “Eriez had a good reputation and a good price,” he says.

Benning actually went to the Eriez facility, where he was given a tour and introduced to Eriez personnel. Huhtamaki purchased six E-Z Tec® metal detectors for the yogurt contract in May 2004, and a facility acceptance test was done on the first three detectors. A seventh metal detector has since been purchased for a separate contract for making lids for ice-cream containers. Today, five of those seven metal detectors are still in use and will continue to be used as long as Huhtamaki has these particular contracts.

Running the finished product through the metal detector assures Dannon that there are no metal contaminants in the food container. In today's world, things change rapidly, and customers are more aware of liabilities, according to Benning. For the most part, Huhtamaki's operations run smoothly, but the metal detector occasionally picks up traces of metal in the recycled corrugated cases that the containers are shipped in. There have also been a few minor incidents where metal was actually in the container. The metal traces in the cases do not cause any problems, but operations have to be checked if the metal is found in the actual container.

As long as the cases and containers don't contain any ferrous oxide, the metal detector should be able to detect down to 2 mm of iron, 2.5 mm of nonferrous aluminum, brass and copper and 3 mm of stainless steel, according to information from Eriez. The metal detector is manufactured from Type 304 stainless steel to meet National Electrical Manufacturers Assn.-4X requirements and to comply with U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration and dairy standards. The metal detectors are actually designed into the manufacturing process and for the layout for the particular operation. Knowing ahead of time which contracts at Huhtamaki call for metal detectors is helpful for that reason.

For those specific contracts requiring a metal detector, Huhtamaki will continue to choose Eriez. Benning points out that, in manufacturing, once you find a good product and your employees are comfortable, you stick with it to ensure that operations continue to run smoothly. “We've had good performance and success with the Eriez units. I would see no reason to deviate from that,” Benning says.