Earth Animal has been elevating standards in the pet food industry for over 40 years. In the production of dog food, the manufacturer utilizes product inspection solutions to detect foreign body contamination. After a facility-wide renovation, Earth Animal changed from a traditional metal detector to an x-ray system at their Riverstone facility in Westminster, Maryland. They installed an x-ray inspection system from METTLER TOLEDO Safeline X-ray, which reliably identifies and removes contaminants such as stones, glass, shells and other foreign bodies from their production lines.
This case study details the benefits Earth Animal has seen since they started using the x-ray inspection system. After installing the system, Earth Animal determined that their primary vulnerability comes from incoming raw ingredients, not from any issues inside their plant. Knowing this allows them to hold their suppliers accountable if foreign material is detected in their raw product.
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Inspecting dog food can be challenging because it is made up of different ingredients such as dried meats, fruits, veggies and other ingredients. These all have different densities and moistures. For this reason, Earth Animal decided to install an x-ray inspection system which is capable of meeting these types of inspection challenges.
"You can actually see each of the ingredients on screen as the system inspects them. Its accuracy and sensitivity are impressive," said Claire Farrell, Quality Control Manager at the Riverstone facility. In addition, the company is very pleased that the machine is designed for easy cleaning and maintenance. This reduces downtime and has a positive effect on the overall operating efficiency.
"Given our experiences with METTLER TOLEDO Safeline X-ray, I never want to run another packaging line without this technology. The level of confidence and security it provides us is invaluable," said Kelly Raiser, General Manager and co-owner of Earth Animal's Riverstone facility.
