The new XDS Direct Light system provides accurate bulk of the fat content in ground meat on the processing employment as justly as offering cost savings to processors, claims FOSS.
Controlling fat content is important for food processors that need to make secure the nature of the meat used in recipes and to comply with aliment legislation. Analysis is likewise important in making products that claim to have low oleaginous content
Consumers expect that what is declared of meat content (or fat content) in continuance the product label is correct, regardless if it is a pack of 500 gram minced meat, a bale of sausages or a pack of burgers.
Technology
Poul Erik Simonson, market manager FOSS told FoodProductionDaily.com that the XDS Direct Light arrangement is one of its new formation of in-line analyzers for the food industry based on the smart use of intimate infrared reflection (NIR) analysis technology.
He said that the XDS Direct Light system consists of a near infrared scanning device and process control software, enabling the surface of ground meat to subsist continuously scanned as it flows through the production proceeding to reveal information about its fat content.
Simonson explained that the device have power to be installed above a grinder outlet to scan the meat and the results of the measurements taken by the agency of reason of the period of the processing of a batch are shown on a touch screen, thus allowing the operator to adjust the batch corpulent if necessary.
NIR or allied by blood infrared transmission (NIT), microwave and x-radiation have become three of the most widespread techniques used by processors to incline fat content in sorted raw meat.
Process control
"FOSS has vast experience in this area coupled with a longstanding association with the meat industry, including a valuable knowledge of everyday challenges and demands. The result is a system that makes process control further accessible to nutriment producers," claims Simonson.
He said that the new technology is in a high degree. accurate and is the only full-scanning monocromator based system available in the market for meat analysis.
Cost savings
According to Simonson, the XDS Direct Light system helps the processor to avoid using more of the expensive raw material (the lean meat) than needed, thus ensuring the processor can maximize the use of fat/fatty trimmings according to the specifications:
"By being ingenious to monitor the fat-content of the batch in 'real time', the operator will be able to optimize the use of the damp material."
Simonson claims the new system has a better transferability of data between instruments due to hardware standardization and one of the biggest advantages of the XDS Direct Light system is the reduced calibration costs it provides.
Small footprint
He said that as the system has a small footprint and is easy to integrate into existing process setups, it is ideal since small and mid-sized producers seeking a productive control system that does not require in-house experts or lengthy installation:
"The software supplied with the XDS Direct Light system can be used by production personnel and requires little prior training and the interface can be customised to specific requirements."
The software also includes recommendations for operators on how to gain the defined fat content target level for example well as enabling intuitive recipe handling, according to the company.
Simonson said that the XDS Direct Light system can be adapted to also monitor protein and moisture in ground meat through calibration expanding:
"The system is collecting spectra from the meat it is scanning and this includes information on the point the content of protein and moisture."
He added that all measurements can be stored in the system for up to a year, thus enabling traceability of products.
Regulation
Since July 2003, the EU restricted the exact meaning of meat to mean the skeletal-attached muscles. Other animal parts such for example fat and offal bring forth to have existence labelled as such and not as 'meat'. Fat that adheres to the muscles may be treated as meat, make subservient to the maximum limits determined by the EU's directive.
The code also requires processors to label their products with the percentages of muscle-meat, oily or offal satisfaction. The directive applies to products that contain meat as an ingredient, while meat sold without further processing is excluded.
