When growing or manufacturing food in large quantities, how is it possible to sort out the good, quality food with an optimum shelf life from the bruised, blemished, overripe, moldy, discolored, and not so good chemical quality food products with little to no error? Also, no one wants to find extraneous materials that are not safe to eat mixed in with food products.
How Is Food Usually Sorted?
- Screens and Sieves: These are used to sort for extraneous material such as leaves, stones, and immature or rotting produce. If screen hole sizes are too small for an undesired object or the object is the same size as the food product, this material could pass unnoticed.
- Image Processing: According to ScienceDirect, “Image processing refers to the manipulation of digital images to extract more information than is actually visible on the original image.” In this case, appearance and surface defects on food products are attempted to be noticed using this method. However, defects can still be missed adding to waste and lowering consumer quality.
- Grading: Skilled personnel is used for this type of food assessment and this can get expensive. Not only that, humans are only human. One might miss defects or misgrade the quality of the food item as it passes through, again, lowering consumer quality or creating waste.
Sorting With Hyperspectral Imaging
According to Specim Spectral Imaging, “Spectral imaging provides valuable information by identifying materials based on their chemical properties, not available with other camera technologies.”
In other words, chemically different materials have a unique spectral stamp.
Integro Technologies partnering with Specim Spectral Imaging has come up with the ultimate food sorter, the SpecimOne. The FX series cameras mounted on Integro Technologies’ automated machinery can sort food faster with less waste and cost.
The SpecimOne can sort out bruised, blemished, overripe, moldy, discolored, and not so good chemical quality food products with little waste. It is so precise that it can even determine the sugar level of potatoes. And no extraneous materials getting by with this food sorting solution. Contact us for an engineered solution to a less wasteful and less costly food sorting process.
