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F&S Produce, a leading supplier of fresh-cut and frozen produce, recently opened a facility in Vineland, New Jersey. with six new packaging lines each needing a metal detection solution. They had already worked with METTLER TOLEDO in the past; "METTER TOLEDO had a reputation for making the most accurate and reliable systems then, and they still do today," says Sam Pipitone Jr., President and founder of F&S Produce. It was an easy decision to install METTLER TOLEDO metal detection systems on their new production lines.
As a food producer, it is critical that any metal contamination is identified and removed before the product leaves the production facility. METTLER TOLEDO metal detectors utilize state-of-the-art electronic filtering techniques, identifying products with both ferrous and non-ferrous metal contamination – even non-magnetic stainless steel fragments. Crucially, these electronic filtering techniques mean that this advanced sensitivity does not come at the cost of increased false rejects.
The sensitivity of the metal detectors are a critical part of the F&S' SQF certification, HACCP program and food defense plan, according to Colin Turner, Chief Strategy Officer at F&S Produce. "Our quality control team tests each system at startup and during changeovers as well as every 30 minutes, which gives us confidence that sensitivity remains consistent. Plus, a METTLER TOLEDO technician comes in every year to do complete audits on all our metal detectors."
The hygienic demands of produce production mean that all equipment needs to be able to stand up to a demanding washdown routine. "We wash down all our equipment daily, even the ones handling packaged products," Sam Pipitone III, Vice President of F&S Produce says. The METTLER TOLEDO metal detectors are designed for such an environment, delivering great uptime and dependability.
