X-ray product inspection systems have been a staple of the quality assurance process for the food industry for a while now. The normal use of these machines is to check products for foreign contaminants such as:

• Bones
• Metal shards
• Glass
• Rocks and Stones
• High density plastic / rubbers
• Etc.

As a product safety measure, these machines have proven to be indispensable for many packaged food manufacturers.

Over the years, new developments in x-ray technology have expanded the capabilities of these machines, allowing them to detect a wider variety of materials and even adding new functions to some x-ray machines.

One of these developments is Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry, or DEXA technology. This technology, which uses two separate x-ray energy frequencies to scan objects being passed through the system.

While a typical x-ray machine simply takes a “snapshot” of the object being scanned, translating the scan results into a grayscale image that shows the density of the object that was scanned, DEXA scanners can analyze the chemical compounds present in the object. This is made possible by comparing the rates at which the high and low energy x-rays are absorbed by the object.

This technology provides several key benefits for meat inspection, including:

1: The Ability to Measure the Fat Content of Meat and Calculate Moisture and Protein

In the meat packaging industry, accurately measuring the chemical lean (CL) value, or fat content, of a piece of meat is very important.

Misreporting a piece of meat as being leaner than it is can result in a “fat claim” which can result in the meat manufacturer having to pay compensation. Accidentally marking a package of meat as having more fat content than it actually does, on the other hand, can mean giving away free lean meat content without the ability to charge for it.

DEXA technology allows manufacturers of meat products to thoroughly and accurately measure the CL value of the meat they’re packaging for sale. This way, they can sell the meat for the right price and minimize the risk of having to deal with a fat claim and the resultant fines.

2: Thoroughness of Inspection

Unlike traditional methods of checking the CL value of meat, which require sampling small portions of meat and can take a long time to complete and may destroy the sample of meat being tested, DEXA technology is fast and non-destructive. This allows you to test the fat content of all the meat on the production line, not just a couple of “sample” pieces that may or may not accurately reflect the average fat content of the meat on the line.

3: The Ability to Meet Increasingly Strict Industry Standards

Every year, new laws are signed into being that affect manufacturers in a number of industries. Back in 2011, President Obama signed the US Food and Drug Administration Act into law, tightening track and trace standards throughout the food industry.

The new requirements for meat products to now be catalogued and given simple, easy-to-access tracking information has led to an increased demand for tracking of data for every packaged meat product. Because DEXA inspection technology lets meat manufacturers check the CL values of every meat package they produce, such systems make complying with these tighter tracking regulations easier.

4: Simultaneous Inspection for Foreign Bodies and Weight

Laboratory tests such as the Soxhlet method may provide some information about the fat content of a sample of meat. However, these tests don’t provide any information about whether or not contaminants are present in the manufacturing line.

DEXA technology, on the other hand, can simultaneously check for contaminants inside of meat on the production line even as it is analyzing the fat content of meat on the line.

In addition, the DEXA X-ray system will check the weight of your product allowing you to precisely control your giveaway, saving you money.

This allows these systems to pull triple-duty for quality assurance and safety. Overall, DEXA-enabled x-ray product inspection machines can prove to be an invaluable tool for meat producers.