Pack Expo – Part 2: Inspection, Detection, and Prevention Education

Our last product inspection article talked about one of the most exciting trade shows in the food packaging industry, Pack Expo International. Pack Expo is the destination for solutions to ensure the safety and quality of your packaged and unpackaged products. You’ll find a world of education and insights about the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and the many technologies that those laws encompass.

According to the FDA website, the FSMA is “the most sweeping reform of our food safety laws in more than 70 years…. It aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus from responding to contamination to preventing it.”

Consumer safety has always been a primary concern for food processors. However, with the enactment of the FMSA and continuing recalls for various physical risks, the intensity has been turned up even higher. With significant costs and penalties for non-compliance, processors will be relying on the latest quality control methodologies and equipment, like metal detectors and X-ray machines. These are the reasons that we will be hosting many educational sessions at the show that revolve around the themes of inspection, detection, and prevention. (Keep reading to see how you can access the various presentations if you can’t attend.)

In addition to collaborating with Anne Sherod from the Acheson Group who will present “Verification: Can Your Food Safety Plan Meet the Rigors of FSMA’s Proposed Preventive Controls?” at the Food Safety Summit, we are offering many other educational sessions so you can see first-hand the latest innovations in X-ray inspection, metal detection and checkweighing.  

Make sure you stop by the Innovation Stage to hear about “X-ray Detection: Help or Hype for Foreign Object Detection in Food?” X-raying food products to find solid contaminants is on the rise due to the potential to find many types of foreign materials, not just metals. Many consumer goods companies and large retailers are also demanding that their suppliers implement x-ray, thinking it is the best way to protect their brand. But like most hot technologies, x-ray is not perfect and can be oversold or misapplied which can lead to disappointment, excessive false rejects/scrap and high costs for reinspection.

My presentation will explain the basic technology used in all x-ray systems, the differences between the various system types and what techniques are ideal for a wide range of applications. Attendees will not only learn what x-ray is good for, but also discover its current limitations. The role of the ubiquitous metal detector and its long-term role in HACCP will also be discussed.

Feel free to stop by the booth all during the week and catch other educational presentations. Check the schedule to verify the times for these and other presentations:

• How to Reduce Scrap and Rework After Product Contamination
• Applications for Demanding Environments – Meat, Poultry or Seafood
• Solutions for a Wide Range of Food Safety Challenges
• Top Trouble-shooting Tips for X-Ray Inspection
• Top Trouble-shooting Tips for Metal Detection
• Drive Out Variability, Drive Up ROI with Checkweighers
• Integrating Code Printing & Verification with Checkweighing for Track & Trace Applications
• Integrated Checkweigher System: PER-FIL Industries
• Applications Insights for Dairy Products

And if all that food safety talk hasn’t turned you off eating and you want to dine outside the show venue, an iconic and quick Chicago “meal” is to eat a Chicago-style hot dog on the street. (See the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council brochure for what makes Chicago’s signature hot dog so special.) But if you’re looking for a more festive atmosphere to take a group, mojitos and Latin Fusion cuisine can be found at my favorite spot, Carnivale, in the Fulton market.

If you can’t be at the show, don’t worry. You can register for an online, front-row seat for all of our news and resources. We’ll keep you updated on events at Pack Expo and notify you when our booth presentations are available for download. You can also follow the show on Twitter and Facebook. 

In the meantime, feel free to download the Top 10 Factors to Consider When Selecting and Installing an X-ray System for Food Applications infographic.

Show Details:

Pack Expo 2014
November 2, 2014 – November 5, 2014
Booth #S-2514
McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois USA
2301 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60616