Automate and Control LTD

Category: Product Inspection

  • What Can Hyperspectral Food Inspection do for Your Product Safety & Quality Control.

    Food safety is one of the biggest concerns for food processors. Early detection through hyperspectral technology can substantially reduce the economic damage, generated by rejecting substandard food products.

    The Hyperspectral Food Inspection System is a complete system for detecting and grading food safety. This spectroscopic food inspection system (also known as hyperspectral food analysis) can be used to detect and grade production defects on fruits, vegetables, nuts, seafood, meat and fish.
    Unlike an operator based system, it can tell you whether your raw materials are safe or not before the final output stage. It can even tell you what the problem is, allowing you to prevent recalls and costly damages.
    Our hyperspectral food inspection system can be customized to meet the requirements of your specific application, including high volume food manufacturing.
    Tiny defects with huge impacts can be found easily with hyperspectral inspection technology. It is used to inspect various products samples, from food and pharmaceuticals to environmental monitoring. Our system does not use any chemicals; it employs a special filter for transmission spectroscopy that is optimized for hyperspectral analysis. We have combined our proprietary instrument design and software algorithms to develop a highly automated 3-dimensional color imaging for rapid defect detection in produce. We offer complete systems for defect grading of foods, chemical detection, as well as quality inspection of various materials.
    As our food deteriorates over time there are chemical changes happening, these changes can happen more quickly when these food stuffs aren’t properly stored. The outcome of these changes can range from a poor experience by the consumer to food poisoning and extreme circumstances death. We all know even the most stringent of supply chain controls sometimes fail and you can’t laboratory test every single piece of produce, so what’s the solution? Automate and Control Ltd’s bioClass® system, 100% online hyperspectral inspection. Our newly developed systems specifically designed for the food industry inspect 100% of your produce. Hyperspectral Imaging is a chemical colour analysis of the produce running through the system. With machine learning we teach the system what is fresh produce and feed in aged examples of produce, our AI driven algorithms can then grade each and every component running through the system, then either warn or automatically reject gone off or contaminated produce ensuring your customers always receive the best experience of your products each and every time they consume them. Our system can be also used in other ways such as batch grading cheese on maturity for further blending to ensure taste consistency.
    Below is an example of grading cheese on the maturity level, ensuring a consistent flavour in the manufacturers end products.
    What are you inbound ingredient inspection challenges?

    RGB hyperscectral key

    1. Pseudo RGB Image

    2. Hyperspectral Cube of Mild, Strong and Vintage Cheese.

    3. Hyperspectral Representative of decision Algorithm

    Cheese Hyperspectral Imaging RGB
    Cheese Hyperspectral Imaging
    Cheese Hyperspectral Imaging reg

  • bioClass® The new standard in detection and quality inspection of poultry fillets.

    bioClass® The new standard in detection and quality inspection of poultry fillets.

    Is Poultry Fillet Woody Breast Syndrome a Health Hazard?

    Many consumers are beginning to ask this question. It is believed not, but it is detrimental to the consumers experience of the product if not detected before consumption. Overall this has an economic effect on the poultry industry with consumers seeking other products due to a poor experience and lack of knowledge of this issue.

    Poultry producers worldwide struggle with WBS. This condition occurs in poultry and is a muscle disorder that primarily affects the breast muscles. Often, there is inflammation in the breast muscle and connective tissues, which can lead to a stringy muscle appearance. an increase in connective tissue and breast muscle inflammation, causing a reduction in muscle mass and therefore a pronounced water-holding capacity.

    Knowing the quality of the final product going out of your plant is one of the most important parameters of poultry inspection. Traditional methods have been developed over numerous years and proven very effective in detecting contamination, visual defects and unappealing breast inclusions. Hyperspectral woody breast inspection is taking this to the next level, creating greater opportunity for making significant improvements to your processing line efficiencies by removing manual inspection from your process lines.

    bioClass® the world’s first patent pending hyperspectral woody breast syndrome (WBS) inspection system in accordance with the international standards to go beyond X-Ray inspection, what more could you ask for? In a word, none. bioClass® our hyperspectral woody breast inspection system can be used as a complementary tool to traditional X-Ray imaging for a step forward in product quality control and process efficiency.

    bioClass® a complete inspection system for poultry breast meat. An innovative hyperspectral system that can measure color and texture to detect surface contamination, and a spectroscopic scanner that detects woody breast myopathy, blood spots, bone, skin and fat using target signatures recognised by the software.

    For More Info on our system https://www.automateandcontrol.com/woody-breast-inspection-poultry/

    QIS-4P meat and poultry inspection systems from Automate and Control LTD


    Wooden Breast Poultry Inspection System

    For more information on Muscle Abnormalities in Broiler Breast Meat visit.

    https://www.kosfaj.org/archive/view_article?pid=kosfa-38-5-835

    For more information on automated poultry inspection systems, contact

    Automate and Control LTD – sales@automateandcontrol.co.uk

      

  • Hyperspectral Almond Sorting System

    bioClass® for the Hyperspectral Grading of Almonds

    #foodindustry #inspection #foodscience #foodmanufacturing #security #foodsafety #freshproduce #foodsafety #TACCP #audit #Health #planning #Monitoring #continuous_improvement #Manufacturing #hyperspectral #hyperspectralimaging #foodandbeveragemanufacturing #food #business #foodsecurity #foodinspection

    bioClass®

    Automated inspection system designed and built in the UK for Hyperspectral inspection of Almonds and other produce.Utilising machine learning for rapid application development that can be deployed within minuets using the power or artificial intelligence  sets this system apart from the competition. Inbuilt Industrial Hyperspectral imaging systems couples with intuitive software that out customers can easily modify themselves is a game changer for the industry of food and produce sorting. The additional benefits of hyperstectral inspection is the automatic detection of foreigh material or adulterated ingredients. As the system utilises chemical colour analysis non recognised  produce can easily be rejected.

    Get in contact today and let us trial your products on our dedicated trial system.

    sales @ automateandcontrol.com

    food chemical inspection online real time full system stainless steel

  • How we Protect Against the Cost of Muscle Abnormalities in Broiler Breast Meat – Including Woody Breast / White Striping.

    How we Protect Against the Cost of Muscle Abnormalities in Broiler Breast Meat – Including Woody Breast and White Striping.

    #foodindustry #inspection #foodscience #foodmanufacturing #security #foodsafety #freshproduce #foodsafety #TACCP #audit #Health #planning #Monitoring #continuous_improvement #Manufacturing #hyperspectral #hyperspectralimaging #foodandbeveragemanufacturing #food #business #foodsecurity #foodinspection
    Woody / Wooden Chicken Breast Meat and White Striping is estimated to cost the Poultry Industry between 200-1,000M USD per year.

    With consumers taking to social media to share their experiences, brand protection is more important than ever. Automate and Control LTD have the most advanced solution on the market to ensure your consumers don’t suffer a poor quality experience.

    “Wooden breast” describes quality problems caused by abnormal muscles in a small portion of chicken. This condition makes the chicken breasts hard to the touch, and the colour is usually light and the texture is poor. Wooden breast will not bring any health or food safety hazards to people, and the welfare of the chicken itself will not be negatively affected.

    What causes the “woody breast”?
    Do larger, faster raised chickens cause “woody breasts”?

    The cause of the “woody breast” is not yet clear, and researchers are working to determine the cause and possible solutions. The poultry industry will invest more than a quarter of a million dollars in four independent research projects of independent universities and the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, while also collaborating with geneticists, veterinarians, and animal scientists to gain insight into this kind of muscle disease and remedy it.

    Is “Wooden Brest” a threat to my health? Is this common?

    No, chicken with “woody/wooden breast” will not pose a threat to consumers’ health. The concern about “woody breasts” is the quality (texture and appearance) of the meat, not the health or nutritional content of the meat. All chicken companies check these quality problems in their processing plants. This situation is sporadic and only affects a small part of the poultry.

    How do chicken producers currently deal with “woody-breasted chicken”?

    In addition to strict Food Safety Inspection equipment such as X-rays and metal detectors the chicken companies also have processing plant employees who inspect each piece of breast meat in the factory. And if any quality issues such as “wooden breasts” are found, meat is usually transferred for use elsewhere.

    The issue with manual poultry breast inspection is fatigue of the employee carrying out this process. Early in the shift the accuracy may be in the high 80% dropping off over the day to maybe around the 60% mark. With our Poultry Quality Inspection System QIS-4P you receive 100% inspection with an average of >95% accuracy.

    Using Online, High Speed, CHEMICAL COLOUR ANALYSIS, not only does our system inspect for Woody Breast it can also inspect for other contaminants not wanted in a ready to cook ready or fast food product, such as small fragments of bone, fat, skin, blood spots all that may impair the final product when consumed by your customers.

    Severe woody breast automatic inspection

    QIS-4P meat and poultry inspection systems from Automate and Control LTD


    Wooden Breast Poultry Inspection System

    For more information on Muscle Abnormalities in Broiler Breast Meat visit.

    https://www.kosfaj.org/archive/view_article?pid=kosfa-38-5-835

    For more information on automated poultry inspection systems, contact

    Automate and Control LTD – sales@automateandcontrol.co.uk

  • How we Protect Against the Cost of Muscle Abnormalities in Broiler Breast Meat – Including Woody Breast and White Striping.

    How we Protect Against the Cost of Muscle Abnormalities in Broiler Breast Meat – Including Woody Breast and White Striping.

    Woody / Wooden Chicken Breast Meat and White Striping is estimated to cost the Poultry Industry between 200-1,000M USD per year.

    With consumers taking to social media to share their experiences, brand protection is more important than ever. Automate and Control LTD have the most advanced solution on the market to ensure your consumers don’t suffer a poor quality experience.

    “Wooden breast” describes quality problems caused by abnormal muscles in a small portion of chicken. This condition makes the chicken breasts hard to the touch, and the colour is usually light and the texture is poor. Wooden breast will not bring any health or food safety hazards to people, and the welfare of the chicken itself will not be negatively affected.

    What causes the “woody breast”?
    Do larger, faster raised chickens cause “woody breasts”?

    The cause of the “woody breast” is not yet clear, and researchers are working to determine the cause and possible solutions. The poultry industry will invest more than a quarter of a million dollars in four independent research projects of independent universities and the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, while also collaborating with geneticists, veterinarians, and animal scientists to gain insight into this kind of muscle disease and remedy it.

    Is “Wooden Brest” a threat to my health? Is this common?

    No, chicken with “woody/wooden breast” will not pose a threat to consumers’ health. The concern about “woody breasts” is the quality (texture and appearance) of the meat, not the health or nutritional content of the meat. All chicken companies check these quality problems in their processing plants. This situation is sporadic and only affects a small part of the poultry.

    How do chicken producers currently deal with “woody-breasted chicken”?

    In addition to strict Food Safety Inspection equipment such as X-rays and metal detectors the chicken companies also have processing plant employees who inspect each piece of breast meat in the factory. And if any quality issues such as “wooden breasts” are found, meat is usually transferred for use elsewhere.

    The issue with manual poultry breast inspection is fatigue of the employee carrying out this process. Early in the shift the accuracy may be in the high 80% dropping off over the day to maybe around the 60% mark. With our Poultry Quality Inspection System QIS-4P you receive 100% inspection with an average of >95% accuracy.

    Using Online, High Speed, CHEMICAL COLOUR ANALYSIS, not only does our system inspect for Woody Breast it can also inspect for other contaminants not wanted in a ready to cook ready or fast food product, such as small fragments of bone, fat, skin, blood spots all that may impair the final product when consumed by your customers.

    Severe woody breast automatic inspection

    QIS-4P meat and poultry inspection systems from Automate and Control LTD


    Wooden Breast Poultry Inspection System

    For more information on Muscle Abnormalities in Broiler Breast Meat visit.

    https://www.kosfaj.org/archive/view_article?pid=kosfa-38-5-835

    For more information on automated poultry inspection systems, contact

    Automate and Control LTD – sales@automateandcontrol.co.uk

  • COVID-19 Hitting Reset on the Fast Food and Ready to Eat Sector of the Poultry Industry

    COVID-19 Hitting Reset on the Fast Food and Ready to Eat Sector of the Poultry Industry

    Labour reducing automation has always been one of the main ROI’s for implementation, until now! Our customers have been faced with the fact their food production plants could come to an immediate halt threatening their very livelihoods by a minuscule virus, that has threatened the whole worlds food security programs.

    Currently to date there are food safety quality control systems such as metal detectors and x-rays we rely on as part of the everyday protection of the food we consume. These systems protect us from glass, metal and other foreign materials that could cause a risk to our health. The next step is brand protection, to ensure the products arrives to the customer as we intend it to. Historically a lot of this quality inspection is carried out by manual intervention and human visual inspection. Flawed in many ways as fatigue reduces the accuracy over time, plus that concerning factor of human contact. Other quality impacting factors such as freshness, bacterial growth and non-visible chemical changes in products are not visible to the human eye, so high speed non-contact systems are being developed to ensure what we eat is safe and to the same exceptional quality we expect every time from the brands we trust.

    The pre-prepared / ready to cook and fast food sector of the poultry industry, takes chicken from the farm to the bun almost without any human contact. High speed automation ensures we have nutritious safe food at a price the consumer can easily afford. But with the reduction in human intervention sometimes quality can suffer with small non-conformances making it to the plate such as small bone fragments, blood spots, woody breast meat, fat, skin and other foreign matter. Automate and Control LTD have developed a system to remove these non-conformances to ensure brand protection, one of the more complex non-conformances Woody Breast has been the most challenging.  

    The muscle syndrome woody / wooded breast impairs quality of chicken fillets and is a challenge to the modern poultry meat industry. The need for online detection of affected fillets for automatic quality sorting in process, is one that our customers in the poultry industry have brought to our attention.

    Tests carried out using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and crude chemical composition could estimate protein in the fillets with an extremely accuracy. This shows that there was a larger share of free water in Woody Breast fillets.

    Our non-contact QIS-4P inspection system can successfully discriminate between Woody Breast and normal fillets by measuring both protein content and degree of water binding in the muscle, both established markers for Woody Breast.

    Our system QIS-4P inspection includes the detection of small bone fragments, blood spots, fat, skin and other foreign matter, the chicken fillets with woody breast that are still fit for human consumption can also grade on severity of Woody Breast, so the meat can be reclassified for final use ensuring the best use for your produce maintaining profit margins.

    For more information contact Automate and Control LTD –  sales@automateandcontrol.co.uk

    QIS-4P meat and poultry inspection systems


    Wooden Breast Poultry Inspection System