metal detection food

6 Reasons why you need a Metal Detector

Here’s a summary of 6 key reasons why you need a metal detector on a production line:

  1. Brand Protection – As a supplier, you have an obligation to protect the customer, a well-established brand is an important asset to any business and a loss of reputation can have a catastrophic effect on sales. Not to mention the cost of recall if needed, and the potential professional relationships this could impact. There have been a number of product scandals over the years, with some retailers never able to recover.
  2. Consumer Protection – A consumer has every right to assume that all reasonable steps have been taken to protect them from receiving contaminated and potentially harmful products. An effective metal detection system is, therefore, a necessity for all producers. Failure to implement a system can harm the consumer. Alongside the moral obligation to protect the consumer, is the business imperative to protect your brand and secure your place in the market.
  3. Codes of Practice – All of the leading supermarkets have drawn up their own codes of practice that must be complied with by any supplier wishing to sell their products via their outlets. These supermarkets also have a valuable brand to protect, hence insist on a supplier meeting their standards before they can be approved.
  4. Regulation Compliance – Metal detection equipment will be a key part of any audit process and is often viewed as a major safety feature by your customers. Accurate certification allows you to perform audits successfully whether they are internal, external or linked to your ISO9001:2000 quality management system. Many national regulatory and food safety bodies will also require accurate certification of your processes as part of their safety checks and approval processes.
  5. Minimising Costs – When there aren’t fail safes in line to detect contamination there is the added risk of additional costs, if, and when things go wrong. Not only is there the potential of having to shut down lines, or an entire factory, wasted product if you can’t identify what, where and how the contamination happened.
  6. Reducing Metal Contamination – Detecting metal contamination is only one part of an effective system which should always start with the possible sources of contamination. If metal is detected there must be a process whereby the source is identified and if possible, is removed as a potential future problem.

MDS are experts in the application of metal detection strategies and would be more than happy to assist you develop your company’s systems to ensure you have the right system for your needs. Please contact us for an initial discussion.