Amidst the plethora of innovations displayed at the world’s top trade fair for the food industry, ANUGA, Meat Tech Pro’s attention was particularly captivated by technological advancements in safety protocols. The highlight among them was the use of Artificial Intelligence in the identification of foreign bodies, an achievement recognized by the GERMAN AGRICULTURE ASSOCIATION – DLG. This AI-powered approach underscores the industry’s commitment to enhanced safety and efficiency.
Transparency is the key to trust and a sustainable and ethical food ecosystem. The basis for this is information. The Foreign Material Identification solution uses artificial intelligence and cloud technology to improve food safety, quality and traceability and increase process efficiency.
Images of foreign material captured by the sorter are analyzed through a deep learning model, reducing false alarms and equipment downtime. Only true positives trigger alarms to the control system, and company managers receive instant notifications on their mobile phones and can access the stored images.
These images contribute to the ongoing improvement of the solution by continuously re-training the deep learning model. FMI is integrated with a cloud-based platform with a user-friendly interface and real-time information. The networked Digital Operations Center enables remote monitoring and management of the solution, improving its performance.
As the sorting and removal of foreign material is paramount, the real-time aspect of the image processing techniques is elementary. Various sensor technologies combined with image processing algorithms enable separation of products and foreign material, preventing food waste. Since conventional methods work in isolation and mostly without connectivity, their potential for continuous improvement is limited.
In addition, manual intervention often leads to human error and sorters usually remove foreign material aggressively to ensure a non-contaminated food product. This results in a high number of false alarms and, in addition, a large amount of good product is lost or has to be reprocessed.
The new Foreign Material Identification solution combines the strengths of advanced sorters with the added benefits of a networked, cloud-based solution and artificial intelligence. It reduces the risk of food contamination, improves food safety and ultimately leads to a safer and more reliable food supply chain with minimized food waste, protecting consumers from potential health risks.
The information collected in the system provides the necessary transparency regarding the quality of raw materials or products to be sorted and thus supports the company’s internal quality assurance.
