Metal Containers - Food and Beverage

Improve detection in metal containers with Peco InspX’ X-Ray inspection – find metal, stone, glass, bone and high density plastics. Confirm contents, detect dents, identify package abnormalities and verify seam integrity.

Cans take many forms. To establish the expectations for X-ray technology and its application to modern canning, these variations must be understood. X-ray technology can address issues of can integrity, fill contents, and presence of foreign material. Broadly, cans are described in terms of their manufacturing processes (two-piece or three-piece) and their material (steel or tinplate, aluminum, and composite). Further specificity develops by description of the ends that are applied to seal the can (“pop-top,” EZO, tear-off, ring pull, etc.) and of course their size. Can sizes frequently are described in terms of their diameter and height and most commonly (even in this metric world) by measuring them in inches and sixteenths of an inch (thus a 307 diameter can is a can with a three and 7 – sixteenth inch diameter). For our discussion of X-ray, relevant concerns are understanding three-piece vs. two-piece nuances, locations for inspection, the can size and its speed.

X-ray systems designed for can inspection create an image of the metal sheath of the can and its contents. These systems use X-rays to reveal contaminants (otherwise opaque), no matter their shape or location. Materials that have a density greater than the normal contents of the can will show in the image indicating the presence of a contaminant. Foreign material in food cans arises from natural elements (such as bone), from processes where non-food elements are not totally eliminated (such as stones in beans), and from failures in the machinery.

In X-ray systems with advanced detection algorithms, contaminants such as stones can be detected even when in proximity to the side seam of three-piece cans as shown. Whether a can is metal or composite with a metal lid, it is not possible to inspect using a metal detector. To meet a best practice standard food safety and foreign material management practices, cans should be inspected with X-ray systems. A number of foreign material hazards and other defects in canned products can be identified by an X-ray inspection – including dents, voids, fill, relative measurement, seam integrity as well as contaminants.