Plan Automation owns about $3-million worth of inspection systems, including 10 third-generation X-ray machines, 5 first-generation machines and 11 metal detectors. In a refrigerated warehouse in Bolton, Ont., Plan Automation is X-raying millions of kilograms of food annually from producers who suspect shards of inedible materials have accidentally made their way into their products.
In 2021, the 15-year-old company launched a service to X-ray processed food and weed out products contaminated with pieces of glass, metal or rubber, said vice- president Mat Bédard, one of the firm’s two co-owners. That branch, X-Ray Reclaim, has seen its revenue and sales double every year since, and is the only one in Canada to offer emergency X-ray services to isolate contaminated products and keep companies from having to throw out perfectly safe, good food, Mr. Bedard said.
“We did $80-million of product last year — $80-million of product that, if we didn’t exist, went straight to the landfill,” he said.
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